LIN

Lin ground her teeth as misery infected her against her will. She didn't want to admit Kiri could harbor so much hate! She didn't want to believe Kiri could be so weak will and let such a thing kill Amano! But then again, after everything Kiri'd been subjected to, it wasn't a surprise. And Lin hated that so much she wanted to break things and scream like a wild animal, because that the same dark seed had taken root in Haku. Again Lin was disgusted with herself for not being surprised, because the dark seed had been there a long time. From the day he'd arrived at Yubaba's bath house there'd been a shadow in Haku. He bore a hollow aching emptiness filled with a wanting Lin understood too well. Kamaji tried to save Haku from Yubaba the same way he'd tried to save her. But if the promise of food and shelter had been enough to swindle her the promise of power had been more than enough to seduce Haku. It wasn't until they were trapped by their contracts that they realized how stupid they'd been to believe the wanting would stop once they had the things Yubaba promised. It didn't. If anything it got worse. Then Sen had come to them and for the first time Lin saw a light go on in the dragon's eyes she'd never seen before. But it was terrifying how easy it was to confuse wanting with love.

Even after they'd found their way back to Sen wanting got the better of Haku. It'd gotten the better of everyone from Aburaya in the end. Yubaba lost to greed. Kamaji lost to pride. Lin lost more than an arm trying to save what little remained. And Haku was sorry; truly sorry; too sorry. He'd tried too hard to change for the better. He'd nearly killed himself to make amends. He'd managed to bring as many of them home as possible. He'd even found the contracts and finally set them free. That should've been enough! Why wasn't it enough!? Lin didn't understand! Suddenly they were back at the beginning again and it was such a waste. It made her so angry she wanted to hit him! Lin could've hit him if she wanted. He was close enough.

But even as she contemplated dropping her sickle to ball up her fist she blinked as through the slow dancing flakes of snow the cold blue blade of straight wide steel sliced up like a silent flash of lightning. Gritting and grinding her teeth Lin fought through numb shock to regain control of her sluggish body. Like hell she was going to be bitten by her own teeth! Sinking over her heels she anchored herself in the dirt and the rocks beneath and turned to stone. Slow and smooth, crushing the spike of panic the flashing blade inspired beneath the flinty fist of her heart, Lin brought her sickle up just in time. Hanoane's edge grazed across the knuckles off her armor in a spurt of sparks only to catch in the crook of Big-tooth's sharp iron edge. Blowing out the breath she held Lin angled the hook down trapping the blade. Then she punched her fist to the ground. Snow exploded up around her face clotting the oculars of her scarred mask as Lin trapped Hanoane in the dirt below. Then she twisted Big Tooth in the snow flattening the blade so she could stomp and pin Hanoane with her foot. Only then did she let go of the sickle to reach for him.

As the impact rattled up his arm Haku simply forsook the ground and let the force carry him up into the air. He evaded her reaching gauntlet rolling across her back on a frigid gust of wind. As he did he snatched Umi's dagger from her belt even as he continued to spin ghosting away into the snow without touching down. With a furious snarl Lin whipped her torso sideways unwinding the length of chain crossing her body. She dropped to her knees heaving her back to launch the weight at the end. It smashed into the snow inches from his toes as abruptly he righted on another silent gust of wind. Dissolving into shadows without so much as a word he launched up into the swirling whirling white curtains of snow and disappeared. Springing to her feet yanking Big Tooth out of the ground Lin dragged the weight in her wake pacing back and forth beneath the sky like a trapped animal. Shoving her mask up onto her brow with her thumb Lin howled at the sky and kicked at the ice in a rage.

"Coward! COWARD! Come back and face me!"

Lin jerked with a gasp of shock as a frozen hand closed over her mouth. She slammed the armored point of her elbow into the body at her back without thinking. His palm remained clamped over her mouth as Suzume collapsed against her in a billowing flowing furl of white robes that blended completely with the snow. His foxfires were gone. His flashing flute muffled away somewhere in his robes. Down he dragged into the obscuring bank of snow hiding her beneath the voluminous folds of his mercurial sleeves as with a rasping wheeze as he bent in two. Flustering apologetically Lin scrambled around to face him. She came up short as the fox's finger remained firmly fixed on her lips. In the close press of silk sleeves his commanding gold eyes willed her to be silent. Lin nodded shakily. She blinked and shivered as he drew back his arms and the obscuring sleeves.

All at once the blizzard pressed down on them in shifting whirling current. Fluffy white flakes caught on the tips of her eyelashes as she drew her mask back onto her face. Lin shied as light gleamed in her lap. She found Hanoane's flat bright blade lying across her knees as Suzume's furtive hands withdrew. Secreting the edge away into her tatter cloak, Lin hurriedly looped the chain round her chest. Wishing she had another hand Lin gripped Big Tooth tightly.

She watched her mate closely as the gold blades of Suzume's eyes tracked the sky. Suddenly the fox's eyes fell following something with such unnerving acuity Lin tensed. A bright blot of red dropped from above to stain the snow beside them. Lin stared at it for what felt like an eternity. Then Suzume drew on his fox face mask in a smooth solemn gesture. Jerking her attention up, she stared in surprise. Lin couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him wear his mask. It frightened her because it meant that things were serious and she yanked hers on as well.

In that same moment the silent shadow fell from above. Lin hurtled sideways as Suzume shoved her so forcefully she tumbled through the snow. Recovering quickly, she cringed as his deafening flute shrieked up into the snow-storm drowning the gale that nearly flattened her back into the drifts. Foxfire erupted in blinding bursts of blue brightness pursuing their master's aggressor as Suzume melted, disappearing into the waves of filtering ice, pursued by the silent shade of indigo. Sparks flew through the curtains of white as somewhere in the blizzard the fox warded strike after darting strike with shrill dissonant blasts of music. But every time Suzume's song caught Haku, tipping and shoving the dragon off balance; every time foxfire dove down to burn and blind him; the dragon bent and glided through the air with swift buoyant ease insubstantial and untouchable as wind. All the while he slashed with the keen narrow edge of Umi's blade.

Even as Haku evaded and redirected he proved he was the subtle pursuer. Fire fled the wind as Suzume's foxfires guttered and retreated. Anchored in the dirt Lin stood staring like a stone gathering snow on her face and shoulders. What could a stone do before wind and fire but wait? And so she waited; waited with a patience that was unhuman forced to watch from afar. If not for the blade in Haku's hands he and Suzume could've been dancing. They orbited each other like stars beneath the eerie blue foxfires as only Gods could. It was beautiful! It was terrible! But she couldn't look away!

Lin ground her teeth as her insides knotted tighter and tighter in apprehension because eventually one would lose. Would it be wind or fire? She wasn't about to wait to find out! Unclipping Okihane from the end of the chain she spirited the hooked blade into her cloak. She was going to need her only hand free coming up soon. Clipping the clasp to her belt, she gripped the weight in her palm tightening her fingers until she felt the metal dent. They were drawing closer, forgetting her entirely as she remained motionless.

Closer; she tried not to shudder as burning grazed across her mask. Closer; wind smashed into her so strongly she almost fell. Until finally she was close enough to smell sweet summer rain through the bitter scent of snow. The smell made her granite heart swell to the point of breaking. If Sen could survive being eaten by a Forgotten Haku could survive a Tatarigami's curse. And there was no way in hell she was going to let it keep him. She'd cut off that cursed arm if she had to. He was her brother! Her family!

Mine! Lin though bitterly and not without irony. Mine, mine, mine!

As Haku ghosted by completely oblivious Lin hurled the weight at the end of the chain with all her might. He jerked in surprise as the chain sailed around his narrow waist, looping him once then twice only to cinch tightly as he resisted. Catapulting back to her Lin caught the orb of steel with deft skill. Sliding her feet through the snow sinking into a wide grounded stance still anchored to the stones beneath she turned her back and pulled on the chain with all her might using her body as a fulcrum. Yanked from the air by the unyielding firmness of the ground beneath her feet Haku smashed into her back with such force his forehead bounced off her shoulder. Lin elbowed him in the gut so fiercely all the wind gushed from his lungs. But even as he staggered, the white bar of his arm sliced through the air to drive the point of Umi's dagger into her stomach.

Lin inhaled sharply as the cunning blade bit through the layers of lacquer metal, and silk in a bright white lancing shock of stunning pain. But she didn't stumble, not with the rock beneath her feet. She caught his right bicep beneath the crook of her shoulder clamping it beneath her elbow holding him like a vice even. The blade remained in her side as she caught his wrist and wrenched it up. It was startlingly easy to bring the brittle bone to the very brink of breaking. But Haku was both and neither: God and mortal with all the best and worst of each. With a raw scream of pain Haku collapsed against her shoulder. Lin trembled at the sound. It was entirely human.

Then blistering wind erupted around them as he slipped like an oiled eel from her grip. Tangled with chains of iron, Haku heaved and tried to rocket up into the sky. Lin didn't let him. Neither did the stone in her heart. They held firmly as she caught him by the chains and smashed him down to the earth. Snow billowed and furled around them under the power of the impact. Still holding the chain, Lin stood over him panting and staring for a long moment ready for him to jump up and come at her again. Fight was still humming in her blood turning the whole world red. But Haku was suddenly so very still where he sprawled face down in the snow.

An errant wind stirred his frozen hair revealing his brow was still twisted with melancholy. Then Lin wavered as the earth beneath her feet tipped because there was blood on the snow. A cold artic wind blew through her very soul. It's been a long time since she'd thought of the family she'd lost in the north. Numbly she realized she couldn't remember their names anymore. She couldn't see their faces either. The same was true of the one's she'd lost at Aburaya. Grimly Lin admitted she couldn't even remember Umi's voice. Throbbing pain surged up her side, but worse was the ache in her heart. Some wounds would never heal. This pain would never go away even if she became a stone. Gripping the haft of Umi's knife Lin took a deep breath ground her teeth and yanked it out with a grunt. Wiping the bloody blade on her pant leg she shoved it back into its sheath.

As suddenly as it had started the blizzard ceased. Vaguely Lin realized they were perched on the edge of the empty rotenburo. Its empty bowl was full of snow save for a circle of murky steaming green water where the spring welled at the back. Now visible as the curtains of white parted, Suzume rushed by, sliding onto his knees to a graceless seat at Haku's side. Lin was surprised by her mate's concern as he ripped off his outer robe, using it to turn the dragon over and swaddle him against the bitter cold. Bright red blood stained the white silk spreading quickly beneath his shoulder. The sickening sight making Lin's knees quake. She dumped down beside Suzume as he peered at Haku closely but took great care never to touch him.

"Did I kill him!? Is he dead!?"

She choked hoarsely as her ears rang and her vision swam. Hurriedly the fox reassured her in a thin hush.

"No, beloved, he lives! But you've undone my work and I fear touching him because of that!"

Lin turned her face away in quaking horror, studying the threads of black beneath his skin.

"What is it!? How did it get into him?!"

Suzume shook his head as his lips pressed into a grim line.

"I do not know and he would not tell me! When first I saw it earlier it was merely a seed of sickness! I did not realize it could grow so quickly!"

Lin flustered in mounting panic.

"Can you get it out of him!?"

Suzume fractured beneath anxiety as his face went blank with dread.

"No, I… I know not how!"

He was a God. He couldn't lie to her. Suddenly weak with worry, Lin sagged forward bowing over her knees. She tipped even further still as her head swam and her side throbbed. Suzume hurried to catch her. As he did the fox went rigid. Horror shredded Suzume's voice as he held up one of his hands. It glistened red.

"You are bleeding, Hayashimi!"

It was such an obvious thing to say he sounded like such a fool. Lin snorted morosely, gritting her teeth against a wry smirk.

"Of course I'm bleeding, you dope! The stupid dragon stabbed me!"

As she sat up clutching her side the fox flustered beside her. He was worse than Natsumi!

"Let me see!" Suzume insisted, "Let me see!"

Pointing stubbornly at Haku, Lin refused.

"It isn't deep! He needs you more!"

"Woman!" Suzume snapped angrily, "Why must you always argue!?"

Turning on him so suddenly the fox yipped in surprise Lin seized him by the front of his robe. Snarling like a wild animal, she gave him a violent shake. Behind her scarred weasel mask Lin thundered back at him ferociously. As she did she lost herself in the red tide still churning inside her chest and she hurled him down into the snow sitting up over him on her knees.

"Because he's not as strong as me!"

Blinking rapidly Lin sank back onto her heels momentarily frightened by the sound of her own voice. Fighting the red tide and the boiling bloodlust that followed, she gritted her teeth staring at the fox where she'd thrown him down. Wind-blown and riddled with a network of glancing, crisscrossing cuts and slashes; there was even blood on the snow of his heartbreakingly handsome face. Lin stared at him in desperation. Worlds bleed from her in a despairing hush choked with pain.

"I can't lose him too, Suzume!"

As she crumbled forward he caught her again; caught her face and tipped back her mask with his soft, soft hands; caught the string of vicious curses that spilled from her mouth with his equally soft lips. Suzume caught her very breath in her chest as he kissed her so unexpectedly. And the bloodlust turning her world bloody and bleak suddenly dissolved in a flash of blinding blue foxfire. His gentle hands swept up into her tangled hair smoothing and soothing. All the fight went out of her as the passion he unleashed immolated any resistance. Still claiming her mouth as his the fox bent her backwards and her only arm tightened around his neck as he cradled her in the crook of his elbow. She didn't fight as the flat of his hand pressed over her side where her armor was wet with blood only to ignite. This time fire won over stone as she melted in the power of his flames. Gasping for air, Lin sagged in his grip as finally Suzume broke away. Forgetting everything, blindly she pursued his mouth wanting more. But he thwarted her with words.

"We will not, Hayashimi. By O-Inari-sama's will I so swear it."

Suzume whispered against her lips with such quiet vehemence she shivered. Turning her forehead onto his chest she clung to him trembling and panting even as the pain began to subside beneath his magic. All the while she struggled to hold back the agonized fear seeping through the cracks in her flinty heart. But the fox's fire had melted her defenses and Lin failed. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she clenched her eyes shut in a futile attempt to stop them. Ignoring the fact that she was a grimy mess, tenderly Suzume tipped back her head and kissed them away so very softly, murmuring with melting affection as they boiled into steam beneath his lips.

"Do not cry, beloved. Not yet… Not yet…"

Gasping in a breath and holding it Lin nodded hurriedly. Her arm remained locked around his neck as he helped her stand. The pain was gone and Suzume's hand came away from her side wet and gleaming with her blood. Lin tried not to see it just like she refused to look at the blood on the white robes. Then she remembered the Gods at her back. Whirling, Lin shoved Suzume aside so suddenly he yipped. Lin lurched through the snow almost passing them by. She didn't recognize the hill it was so buried in snow.

"It's Miss Lin!"

Usagi called. The rabbit stood out of the bank waving. Huddled behind the tall Godwoman the humans had hunkered inside the old priests robes. Lin stared at her for a moment then barked back.

"Play Fuhen (1)!"

"W-w-w-what!?"

Yoshi stammered uncertainly as he breeched the white beside Usagi. Lin thundered at them at the top of her lungs.

"Play like your lives depend on it!"

At once the kami were waded in a panic to dig the ice off their instruments. Usagi was the first to answer her call. Taking up the biwa she struck the firm opening chords in a deep dour melody as beside her Yoshi struggled to find his bachi in the snow.

One and two and three and. One and two and three and.

The lilting rhythm set Lin's insides shivering. Then Natsumi joined with the sweet twang of the koto followed by the crystal voices of the flower's silver bells. Soon the frogs added the thumping counterpoint of their taiko.

Thump. Tap, tap. Thump. Tap, tap.

Lin pushed her mask up blinking as the stinging snow blew into her eyes. Then, taking a deep breath, she began to sing.