LITTLE MOTHER

Growing Up With Companions

Chapter 8: A Hungry Winter

Winter came with snow dusting the shinobi compound, sifting through the trees. They were taught that if they landed on a branch with snow on it, the snow would fall to the ground and be a way to track their progress. It also made the branches slippery. So, they learned to be very careful up in the branches.

They still had to be in them to be fully safe. On the ground all the undergrowth they hid in during the summer died back. Only bare sticks of some things were skeletons on the ground, not places to hide unless one held still. Only hiding in other realms was safe on the ground.

Tessal was happy to have warm clothes this winter. No one was quite sure where it came from. The one warm outfit had merely been on everyone's beds one morning when they'd woken up, gifted to them in the night as they slept.

Those boys who'd already been there explained that it was similar to the beds showing up suddenly. One new outfit each winter and again in the late spring to keep up with the boy's growth and the change of the seasons.

These winter clothes were as monochrome as the woods, pale whites and soft dark greys. Tessal was glad to have them hide her as well as holding still did. That same day, the adults called them to stand for a meeting in front of the main house again.

"It's almost time to go take the winter fuel supply to the village," Shikun told them. "Obäsan has said that it isn't going to be so easy this time. She's seen that the king's men have reached even out to this remote area and have been conscripting." Tessal shuddered and reached for Claus' hand. He held her whole hand warmly this time for comfort.

"We won't be taking everyone. I don't want to leave the woods unprotected. The soldiers need to be taught that to enter these woods is to be cursed. The villagers understand that we bless them because they don't enter it to hunt us. They'll try to discourage the soldiers, but if they hear that young men live here, they're likely to come anyway."

Shikun frowned. "There's the very real possibility some may be there when we arrive. I'm not willing to give up our oldest to them yet. That may happen later when you're properly ready and we need spies among them, but that isn't yet." The oldest group shifted slightly, also not wanting to be conscripted, but already feeling ready to be in action.

"Some of you we can't let out of the woods because there may have been some demons who survived that know your scent. We don't need them to find you, follow us back here, and destroy the whole clan." Everyone was very sober at that.

"Thus we'll take two smaller groups. One will go into the village, the other will stay outside of it to protect the wagons and forward group if they need to flee. If it becomes very bad, we'll even leave the wagons behind. That will make for a hard winter but would be better than to have another of us die."

Everyone took deep breaths and stood up straight as Shikun called the two parties. The forward party would be those in the junior group with one change. Tessal wouldn't be allowed to go. Forjal would go in her place. She slumped in defeat, but wasn't surprised. She'd participated in the fighting in the port city.

The defensive party would be mostly those in the middle group. Cahyo would go in Forjal's place, to set disguises on the party going into the village. Only Su Dou, leader of the forward party, wouldn't have a disguise, since the village needed to see one familiar face to trade with.

Korin wouldn't be allowed to go with that group this time, either. He would have to stay with Tessal and the senior group, who'd been mostly the ones to participate in the port city battle. Shikun and Sensei would both go with the second party, just in case a strong shield and sword would be necessary to help them all escape back to the wood.

Obäsan would remain at the main house like before to watch with those left behind. Before they left, Su Dou set watches over the entrance to the wood, two boys for each watch, and included Korin, Yasuke, and Tessal in those watches. Everyone would still be needed to protect their home. Tessal knew that the adults were also worried that they would be running back and need them to be the back-line defense if the soldiers were too persistent or angry.

For four days the pairs took turns on watch at the edge of the wood where the thin, little-used path exited the wood towards the village. They were alert and a little worried, but they weren't afraid yet. It would be five days before the parties returned if all went well.

-:-:-:-:-

The fourth night Tessal was tucked up in bed with Obäsan, where they'd been keeping each other company and warm at night, being the only two in the large house. (Korin was sleeping with the oldest since his little house was too cold, too.) Tessal was very asleep when she realized she was being shaken and her name called.

"Tessal," Obäsan said with urgency when Tessal was awake enough. "Go quickly to the entrance. Climb as high as you can and see what you can see." Obäsan's hand was over Tessal's eyes. When it moved Tessal could suddenly see as if there was a full moon shining brightly.

The sparkling Kishi-Mujin was very bright. She was dancing from foot to foot, as urgent as Obäsan was being. Tessal was immediately up on her feet, her heart beating very fast in worry. "Send Kishi-Mujin when you know what it is that comes."

Tessal was moving quickly to run to the trees. She could go very high in the trees, being the lightest, so she went up high to begin with and moved as fast as she dared. The last she saw of Obäsan was the old woman moving quickly to the cabin that housed the older boys. She would be getting them up, then, to send them after Tessal.

When Tessal approached the entrance, she gave her soft call, wanting to know if the current brothers on watch had seen anything. They sent back an all-clear and then a query. Softly she whispered in their way, "Obäsan and Kishi-Mujin have seen something and sent me to see it."

That set them to greater alertness and worry. She went to the tallest tree in this area, as close as she could get to the last line of trees and looked out. She had to hold on to the tree a little tighter as her eyes made her a little disoriented. She could suddenly see very, very far, as if up close.

Carefully Tessal studied the very far distance, then focused her eyes closer in. She swept at that distance from side to side with her eyes, moving in increments closer to the wood until she saw a group moving towards them, two and three times as large as the clan's total number. They were spread out, as if herding something this direction. She tried to get a count, then looked closer in, sweeping the ground again.

Eventually she was able to see that both of their own parties were headed back to the shinobi wood, strung out and wide in pattern. It looked like they were tired. For them to be on foot, running, and it only being the fourth night, they would have had to be chased out of the village on sight, she thought.

Tessal frowned and looked down at the boys with her. "Many enemies come, following our brothers. They'll enter the wood at other places than here, unless they come together to bring them here."

"The land will do that," Tanov said, but a frown was in his voice.

"Maybe, maybe not," Tessal answered. "They're herding them, not letting them stop, nor change their path." Kishi-Mujin disappeared, as evidenced by the bright glow in Tessal's peripheral vision disappearing.

It wasn't very much longer at all that the trees around them were filled with the sounds of their other brothers arriving. They answered with their own sounds. And then there was the scent of Obäsan.

That was not a scent nor a flavor ever felt outside of the compound. It was somehow frightening, as if it was also flavored with a great underlying anger. Tessal drew in a breath and hoped that Obäsan wouldn't really become angry. It felt like she could make the whole area become a very deep lake.

Kishi-Mujin arrived with Tessal again and she was surprised to understand that Obäsan was up in the tree with her, so high. There was silence while Obäsan also looked out to see what it was.

Finally with a click of her tongue, Obäsan returned and sighed an irritated sigh. "Shikun has decided that it's safer for everyone to return to the protection of the forest than worry about bringing them here. They must already have been waiting for them in the village, and known roughly where the wood is located.

"I wouldn't be surprised if most of those coming behind had been an ambush waiting for them to flee the village, even hoping to keep them in it. Perhaps they decided to push them here since the ones they really want for the army were left behind." Tessal and the other older boys shuddered.

Magic was gathering around Obäsan. It swirled large, but elegant at the same time. Being very close to her, Tessal felt like she was being swept up in a warm flowing wind or river that swirled around her and Obäsan.

Kishi-Mujin went from feeling outraged to focused intent. Tessal was surprised to understand that she was helping Obäsan craft the magic, and was adding power to it. Tessal humbly hoped that between them they could find a way to keep her brothers all safe and send the soldiers away.

A soft warm brush came against her cheek and then something that was part of that wish left her to be added to the swirl of magic around her. She was humbled even more, but was glad even her small wish could be of help.

Her eyes saw that the first of her brothers were beginning to reach the edge of the wood. Tessal pointed and sent those brothers already waiting in the wood to go to either side and collect them, to protect them. One quarter went left, the other quarter went right, leaving half of them to protect the center still.

It looked like the group of soldiers was becoming confused. They'd slowed down, and the ones to either far side were nearly stopped. If the land, or monsters like what they'd had to fight last time were eating them, that was just fine by Tessal. She was angry they'd even thought to try to steal her brothers from her and Obäsan.

"How far are the soldiers now?" Abedúl called up to them.

Tessal calculated. "Obäsan has made them fall back with a spell. The last of our brothers will arrive in fifteen minutes."

Obäsan answered, "It's a temporary thing. Only a few will fall to the land. The rest will regroup. It's my hope they have enough intelligence to understand if they continue to come in along the whole face of the wood we'll kill them easily. Wait until I see what they'll do before deciding our next move. No one is to step foot outside the wood in anything we do."

Abedúl settled for the moment. He, DongTang, Tanov, and Josey were glaring out at the field and hills in front of them, staying close to the pathway, but hidden in the lower branches of the trees.

Tessal watched both the soldiers and her brothers' path home. When the last of the people she loved crossed the boundary, she gave the signal. Next to her was a glow that wasn't quite like Kishi-Mujin's sparkle, although it also wasn't a full light. It was many lights that were softer.

Tessal blinked. Where Obäsan had been before was now a foxtail, foxfire surrounding her to make her a light at the edge of forest. It wasn't too long before there was a third person in the tree, making it bend a little dangerously.

Shikun had Obäsan's upper arm in his hand. "What are you doing?" he asked, almost angry.

"They need to come here as one group," Obäsan answered. "I can't affect them that strung out. It was too much to call the land awake to trap them long enough to give you all the time to make it here."

Shikun froze, then slumped slightly and looked away. "So you'll be the light to call them here, seen for miles in this darkness."

Below them and around them there was motion and soundless sounds as those who'd been running and those who'd met them arrived. The glowing light had also called them.

Two of the boys were looking up at the light, transfixed by Obäsan. "Josey's having another vision," Tessal said quietly, pointing at him.

Shikun gave a very irritated sound. Obäsan didn't answer for a bit, then said softly. "He will be silent."

"And Yasuke?" Shikun asked, still angry. Tessal looked at Yasuke. He was in shock.

Obäsan shook her head again. "He also, from the beginning so long ago, has never opened his mouth."

It didn't look to Tessal like Shikun was going to let it go with those words. He was very likely going to scold Obäsan very firmly when they were alone again. Tessal shuddered very slightly at that, too. It wasn't good for either one of them to be angry.

She glanced down at motion below her. Both Josey and Yasuke had dropped down to the ground from the trees they'd been in and were kneeling on one knee, one hand on the ground, their heads bowed. "Obäsan, please, let us parlay with them first. Perhaps we'll be able to get them to leave without entering the wood and hunting your Sons."

Tessal's eyes went wide. Then she went cold as Obäsan's voice answered them with no warmth at all. "You will have one opportunity. Because you'll stand where they can see you, on their first attempt to attack they will all die. The spell is already set." Both boys tensed, but they gave nods.

When they rose and looked up, Tessal had to focus on them very hard. They weren't her brothers any more. They were also foxtails. "C-can we all do that, too?" she asked in a whisper.

"No, it's an illusion," Shikun said, almost as chilly in his words as Obäsan had been. Tessal somehow knew that Shikun was lying. That was no illusion. But perhaps it was truth that the rest of them couldn't transform. Some things they could all do, and learn from each other. Their individual weapons and skill strengths they couldn't. It might be like that.

Because Obäsan had shown them her true foxtail form, those two had received visions of themselves being the same at some time before and had thus relearned how to do it. Tessal wasn't sure why Shikun was angry that Obäsan had awakened that for them, but it must be that if only they could do it.

"Shikun." Cahyo's voice came up from below, quite respectfully given that everyone had heard how angry he was. "If that can turn them away, to believe that we go to the village as humans, but hide in the wood because we are a clan of foxtails, then I can set that illusion on more of us. Would the king truly wish to conscript the foxtails to his army?"

There was silence, then Shikun sighed. "Who's to say? In the past, all peoples intermingled. It is sometimes one way, sometimes another. But if it will prevent Obäsan from killing them, then I suppose it is worth the attempt.

"You've just come from something to make you tired. Do only the minimal number of the varying ages we took with us." He paused, then sighed again. He looked sadly at Obäsan and transformed also into a foxtail. "At least one of us must also show our faces. I will be the elder of the clan to their face."

Obäsan turned to him and her whole being went to sorrow and softness. She bowed to him slightly. "I am sorry, my husband. I know that you don't like to accept that form."

He growled at her and complained in the tongue of foxes. She allowed him to scold her until Tessal interrupted quietly. "They approach. Two minutes."

Obäsan's foxfire went dark and she was the old woman Tessal had been sleeping with earlier that night. It already felt like it had been a different night. She didn't think she minded that Obäsan was really a foxtail. It was just that she'd gone to bed, then woken up and everything had been very worrisome since then.

Shikun disappeared from the tree, arriving at a place just behind Josey and Yasuke. The two foxtail boys now had pale foxfire going around them. Shikun stayed as shadowed as the boys who'd volunteered to have the illusion put on them by Cahyo. Sensei had refused to let Cahyo put one on himself. He'd been sent to the back for rest and healing.

Tessal held her breath as the sounds of the soldiers reached their ears, and then the first of them came into view. She could see them very well, with the magic Obäsan had put on her eyes. The lights they carried with them and the magic lights they had dancing around them made them even more visible.

They moved with bravado, having the strength of numbers. But it seemed to Tessal that they also moved with trepidation. The land had eaten some of them and the villagers were afraid of the shinobi wood. If the soldiers had learned of the place they lived from the villagers, they would have heard those stories, too.

"Luka," whispered through the air. "A count of demons among them, please."

Tessal drew in a breath she tried to keep quiet. She'd forgotten in her amazement of seeing the foxtails. If this group of soldiers was led by demons, or influenced by them, then there would be more to do than just send them away.

Luka appeared in a tree near theirs, high like they were so he could see out over the soldiers that were halting and gathering up in front of the entrance to the wood.

"For what purpose has the pact between the People and the Clan been broken?" Josey asked loud enough to be heard by the soldiers. They had gathered into ranks, staying a safe distance from the edge of the wood. Josey was a red foxtail in the lights of the soldiers.

One soldier stepped forward slightly, standing firmly and with pride. "The king goes to war this next spring. He has need of men to practice from now until then so they can give him victory against the enemy nation. He has sent us to find any young men of age and strength.

"The villagers told of a group of young men and boys who lived in the wood and brought them firewood. We would take them according to the law and word of the king."

"The Clan does not recognize the king. Only our Clan Elder. Go back. There are none here for you," Yasuke said solemnly, a small black foxtail on the path below Tessal. Tessal thought it wasn't him, he sounded so old.

There was some consternation in the front ranks of the soldiers, and some quiet discussion, then the spokesperson said, "You will take us to the Clan village and let us see that you don't hide and harbor the young men."

The other shinobi that had been disguised moved forward enough to be seen through and around the tree trunks. The light from the soldiers glinted off of muzzles and tails. "We are all only foxtails," Josey insisted, waving a hand at the others.

"Step out and let us see you better," the head soldier demanded.

Josey shook his head. "Outside the wood we will only seem as men to you. You will only see foxtails if you enter." He hesitated, then said, "The elder was sent for as soon as we reached the wood. Will you believe his word?"

The soldier wanted to say no, Tessal thought, but he held his tongue. "I will wait, then," he finally answered, folding his arms and setting his position firmly.

Luka whispered very quietly to answer Obäsan's question, "He carries one lesser. Three minors whisper to the others."

Korin had also arrived to stand near them. "But there is the scent of one in hiding." Tessal knew Korin had been working hard to learn how he could find demons in hiding.

"Create together the spell to banish them," Obäsan ordered very quietly. "I will make it stronger. If we can get rid of them perhaps..." They began immediately. To Tessal, it felt like Kishi-Mujin was adding her own strength to that spell as well. Since she didn't want her brothers to be recognized, she gave her own wish, too.

They stood there, at the impasse until Shikun sighed and stepped forward to be seen, although he also stayed inside the woodline. "Why have you chased my sons out of the village, making our Clan to starve, and to make the People die of cold because you've broken the pact?" Shikun asked coldly.

The head soldier explained again and Shikun was just as cold and firm in his rejection of the king's requirement. He also was the same in rejecting the idea that any People of the Land were in hiding in the Clan village.

"Our pact is that they stay out and we only leave to trade the firewood for the supplies we can't create here," Shikun said.

"Why did the villagers tell us that several young men of the ages we seek came last time, but only youths came this time?" the soldier asked.

"Aren't they now adults with responsibilities of their own? The young have grown enough to be ready to learn to help others outside the wood, to be anxious to explore, and to have the time on their hands to be sent. The life-span of a foxtail is very different than that of a Person of the Land," Shikun answered.

The soldier's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't the villagers know you were a clan of foxtails?"

"The men I made the pact with requested it," Shikun answered. "Their preference was to not let the village as a whole know who had moved into the wood. They were already afraid of it. We've removed what they were afraid of and live here now. Isn't it a better arrangement for them?" The soldiers in the front were discontent.

The spell that was building up in the treetop was ready. At Obäsan's nod, the three crafting the spell let it go. Nothing happened when one looked through the natural physical eye. In the spirit and demon realms, however, a brilliant light appeared around four beings, remaining until the darkness inside had dissolved into nothing.

Shikun folded his arms and an ear flicked in annoyance. "Leave. We have nothing for you here. To attack us is death. To enter the woods is death. Return to your requirement to seek out People of the Land where they live. They are not here."

He made a soft sound and the "foxtails", save Josey and Yasuke, faded back into the wood to a distance that would allow the soldiers into it before attacking them if they should chose that instead.

"There, did you see?" Korin said in a hissed whisper.

"Silence his words," Obäsan said very quietly. A very faint scent of Shikun's magic wafted from him to the soldier at the same time as Obäsan's magic was moving.

Looking in the spirit realm, one could see a faint whisper of light tracking the darkness that had appeared faintly around the lead soldier's head. The faint light moved very quickly, turned, and disappeared.

Tessal didn't know which realm it had moved to, but she thought Obäsan and Kishi-Mujin were following very well. There was a sudden thunderclap and the hills to either side of the pathway as it walked beyond the wood shook.

The soldiers ducked and looked around wildly. Even the very annoyed head soldier stopped trying to shout out an order and froze in shock. "It is done," Obäsan said softly. "The demon king will know he's lost a lieutenant and in this general region."

They all somewhat slumped. "It was better than allowing the order to attack come. It wished to have us kill them in order to see for itself if we're who the demon king seeks. The king will have to send another who has a demon companion to search us out."

She sighed. "And so we are trapped in siege with no supplies, to die out over the winter in his mind."

Josey was nodding his head. He stepped forward just a little. "Go. Your magic has been prevented. The next blow will kill all of you. You've already consigned us to death because you've broken the pact. What more damage have you need to cause?" His words were bitter.

Because the whole ground had trembled, it was easy for the soldiers to believe that in only one more blow they could be dead. The head soldier, with that surprise and no longer having the influence of any demons on him, relented and called his men to retreat back to the village.

"Kishi-Mujin, follow them. I would know what lies they tell the villagers, and what the villagers' reaction is. We need to know which ones were traitor to our agreement," Obäsan said quietly. The little sprite, darkened when Obäsan went dark, disappeared into a swirl of obedient anger and followed the soldiers as they left the woodland border.

-:-:-:-:-

"Will we really starve?" Adi shivered and asked as they all sat in the meeting room of the main house, warming it with the numbers of people in it.

"Did you bring back food?" Arin asked, not quite meanly.

All of the younger boys hung their heads. "It's not their fault!" Tessal cried out in their defense. The older boys only glared at her. She was frustrated, but then they all were.

"It isn't a requirement that we starve," Shikun's voice came over them. "It only means that we move to the next level of lessons for all of you. If you want to eat, you learn how to harvest it."

"It will mean that there will be less wood harvested," Sensei warned.

Shikun shook his head. "Perhaps, but how will the villagers get the wood when we had to leave the wagons behind? Will they have the courage to come to us to beg for it? Let it lie for now. The lesson time will be the same."

He shifted to unfold his arms and put his palms on his knees. He was sitting cross-legged as usual, as if he always refused to kneel, but he was the master so no one would say one way or the other. Those who had been foxtail were now not, having returned to the way they always looked.

"We will now be in earnest lessons on how to protect ourselves from being seen by anything, including and especially demons. When enough of you can do that with sufficient strength for long enough, we will be in earnest lessons on fighting the creatures and monsters outside and inside the woods."

Many boys sucked in breaths of surprise. "The food comes from trapping them, putting them to sleep, or stunning them, then bringing them home to be processed into food, and then cooked like normal. Until now you've been gifted many things. Beginning now, you'll learn to work for what you need."

Many slumped. That sort of work had always been out of reach of understanding. But they'd fought the Briar Weasels, Johnny Jump-Ups, and Triffids. If they didn't practice more, they would never be able to face the Savory Cistern or larger monsters, including the demons.

In the end, they also got to practice a lot of the three-party fighting. Usually it was never all of them together. Like they took turns with the kitchen work from the beginning, they took turns in smaller parties fighting to bring home food. They needed to leave some of them on watch at the compound at all times, not just Obäsan.

They did set spells around the side of the wood towards the village that would warn them if anyone entered. They didn't have enough of them to always have that whole border watched. Some were always sent to patrol several times a day, and sometimes at night, too, to check the ground and trees for traces that someone might have entered and not set off the warnings.

On a particularly bright sunny day, cold because of the blue sky, Tessal flew from tree branch to tree branch, dancing some with Kishi-Mujin. Obäsan hadn't been happy with the news brought back from the village by Kishi-Mujin, but she'd only talked to Shikun about it after they were in their bedroom.

Tessal hadn't heard it since Su Dou had made sure she was in her own bed that night. Sensei had been kind and left behind a little FireLight to keep the room from freezing. They all knew that Shikun wanted to scold Obäsan even more so they should be left alone. Tessal wasn't sure much more scolding had really happened, but she was sure they'd talked late into the night on such a serious topic.

Today things didn't seem quite so hard. They were having to eat less, but it wasn't as bad as they'd had it in the villages they'd been found in. Other than the fact that they'd finally gotten used to having full bellies regularly. The stomach complained more bitterly for having been spoiled so.

Still, some food was brought home each day, and everyone was learning their lessons very diligently. Today it was Tessal's turn to walk the border of the wood and track what might have entered. The Tracking lessons had come very easily to her, in the way that said that she'd always known how to do it.

The defensive protection spells were the complete opposite. All of her brothers could do it fairly easily, although again their own strength determined how well and how long it worked. She couldn't do it at all.

Shikun had allowed that if it wasn't her magic, then others would protect her. Tessal had frowned at that and only worked harder. Often Kishi-Mujin even sighed at her and let her know that she would protect Tessal if it came down to it. Tessal did want the help if she was really going to be in trouble, but it didn't sit well with her that something so important was something she couldn't do. So she worked at it regardless.

As they neared the border between the wood and the land outside of it, Tessal slowed down and began to look for tracks in the trees. Nothing looked out of place from her position, so she looked at the ground.

There were the usual tracks of the small woodland animals that were now being brought to the kitchen for dinner, but nothing that she didn't recognize. She was able to catch two tree squirrels, and then later one rabbit that she left in upper tree branch forks to pick up on her way back.

As she neared the pathway, having come from the far left to cross over it and go towards the far right, she saw tracks she didn't recognize on the ground. She dropped down closer to look. They were small enough to not be humanoid. Definitely animal, but one she didn't know.

Tessal followed them as they meandered around the woodland floor for a bit, then moved towards the edge of the wood. There she found her quarry, a dark splotch on the ground under the bare branches of a bush. She quietly dropped to the ground and moved from shadow to shadow.

There was motion from the creature as it turned its head, as if catching wind of her. It was surprising to see that the eyes of the creature weren't in the splotch of red, but were above that in the middle of a very white face, under tall white ears. They'd only been part of the snowy background for Tessal until then.

A fluffy tail flicked and only half of it was red. The rest was white. Tessal drew in a long soft breath as the real size of the creature came in to view as it unfolded and rose to its four feet, a third again as big as the red that was on it's back and legs. It was the first fox Tessal had ever seen and it was beautiful.

She stopped where she was, not wanting to chase it away. The fox turned away from her and trotted out past the bush and to the other side of the tree line. Tessal cautiously flitted to the shadow where it had been, confirming that the footprints of the fox really had been what she was following.

On the other side of the bush, unseen before because she'd been focusing on her tracking and then the beautiful fox, was another sight to make Tessal freeze. The fox was bounding to a wagon, of all things, then jumping up into it. She couldn't see it very well, then, except ears and tail. It looked like it was sniffing at things.

Tessal looked at where the wagon was, and at where she was, just inside the trees. She would get into a lot of trouble if she went out there. None of them were allowed to do that unless they were very well protected.

"Kishi-Mujin," she finally said hesitantly, "will you protect me so I can go see what it is? ...If we had even one wagon, they could bring home more food when they hunt. And maybe we could trade a little?" She wasn't sure about that, but it could at least become an option again.

Kishi-Mujin thought about that, her little index finger to her chin and her eyes looking up into the distance. She gave a nod and closed her eyes, then became a wind and invisible shield around Tessal. When Kishi-Mujin seemed content, Tessal cautiously stepped from where she was to be in the wagon itself. She didn't want her footprints to show in the snow around the wagon.

Her eyes were delighted to find the treasures inside. Vegetables they hadn't seen since the few days after they'd been chased back home were piled in sacks and baskets. Some of the non-food supplies they needed were there also.

She looked around the wagon itself. It didn't help that there wasn't a donkey. There were tracks of a horse, though, that had likely been ridden while driving the wagon, and then had needed to be ridden back. She wondered if the wagon was owned by one of the farmers and maybe they shouldn't take it as theirs.

Being careful to not leave footprints, nor to lose any precious vegetables from their containers, Tessal walked everything in the wagon armload by armload into the wood, until she had a tall stack of things behind one of the trees where it wouldn't be seen so well from anyone outside the wood.

Then she hid up in that tree and softly said, "Kishi-Mujin, go tell Korin and Claus to come here. I need help to carry it."

Kishi-Mujin went away. While she was gone, Tessal went back to the trees she'd left the animals in and brought them back to the foodstuff pile. She still needed to finish her responsibility, too, but she wasn't sure now. She maybe should have waited to call the boys until she'd finished that.

But then, it already seemed like they should have arrived. Or maybe she was too hungry now. She danced from foot to foot until she saw the sparkle that was Kishi-Mujin coming her way. She was able to wait better then.

But when Kishi-Mujin arrived, she hadn't brought just Korin and Claus. It was every one of her brothers. Tessal stared at them all open-mouthed. They all glared at her once they saw she was merely standing there waiting.

"I sent Kishi-Mujin for Claus and Korin," she said, very confused.

The boys looked at each other. Kishi-Mujin seemed a little put out. She turned to the boys and went directly for Shokin, to hold his shirt at the shoulder. Tessal blinked at the two of them.

"We can't see the sprite you talk about," Claus said for himself and Korin.

"I was quite surprised to see it," Shokin said. "And since it only tugged on me, and we all know that it wouldn't leave you unless you were in trouble, we thought you'd been captured by someone come into the wood."

"Oh." Tessal slumped in understanding. "I didn't know." She gestured to the pile of food. "I need help carrying this back to the kitchen."

Everyone stared at the pile, then her. "I tracked a new track to the edge. It was the most beautiful fox. When I went to the edge, it was entering a wagon. I was careful to leave no tracks and only walked into the wagon. Kishi-Mujin protected me from being seen by demon or person.

"I brought it all here. Except the tree squirrels and rabbit. I caught those on the way here."

"Where did the fox go?" Su Dou asked, suddenly very tense.

Tessal furrowed her brow. "I don't know. I was so excited by the food..."

Half of the boys were gone. The others had her surrounded and up in a tree very high. "You can't do that, Tessal!" Abedúl scolded. "It's more likely a trap because they know we're getting hungry. Animals like that can be Summons, told to tempt you to follow them. If they disappear, they almost always are Summons."

"If they've let you take the food, and know you've done it, it could be laced with a poison to make sure we do die, or to put us to sleep so they can enter in the night to see if we told the truth before," Josey scolded.

Tears came to Tessal's eyes. "But, it's all things we need," she said. "I don't think the fox would have wanted to hurt us, not when Obäsan is a foxtail."

They all shook their heads at her sternly. "That's what they would want you to think," they scolded. Hot tears dripped down her cheeks. They looked towards the others at the edge of the wood and waited to hear what they saw.

"What pulled the wagon?" was asked.

"A horse. Ridden here and away," she answered. That made it worse, which made her tears worse. "I thought if they were also giving us the wagon we could use it to bring more food home, but it's hard without something to pull it. So then I thought maybe they might need it back later."

She didn't get an answer. Yasuke was at the pile of foodstuffs and supplies with DongTang. They studied it for a while without touching anything, then appeared in the tree with Tessal.

"Tessal," Yasuke asked gently, "can you describe the fox?"

Tessal wiped at her face with her sleeve and nodded. "I thought it was a small animal of red fur. But when it turned to look at me it was bigger. The whole head was white, and most of the tail, too. The red was just on the back and some of the legs."

Yasuke's eyes got very big. "All white on the head, including the ears?"

"Yes," Tessal nodded.

"Only one tail?" he asked.

"Yes," Tessal said, a little confused at that question.

He thought about that, then said, "DongTang and I don't sense any traps or poisons on the food. Josey, you go look. You have the better skills for that." A look passed between the two boys, then Josey was gone, appearing at the pile of food.

He looked up at them all in the tree watching him after he'd inspected the pile and shook his head. "It's clean," he said.

Yasuke nodded and looked at the rest of them. "It's a gift, not a trap. The fox was one of Obäsan's family."

"It was sitting there watching the wagon, I think for a long time," Tessal said timidly. "It only went out to it when it smelled me. It was headed into the forest, then turned around and went back to wait under the bush." She pointed to the bush and DongTang disappeared to reappear near it, but not disturbing the tracks.

They watched as he tracked backwards, disappearing after a little while. When he came back, he said, "The tracks have no starting place. They suddenly appear, but already here in the wood, and not in a place a Summoner outside the wood would be able to put a Summon."

"Where is that?" asked one.

"In the top of a tree, buried in the woods," DongTang answered. "It took me a long time to find that the first tracks were extra deep because it had come down from a tree." His eyes looked at Tessal. "It was waiting on a branch, lying there, until it saw you pass under it, hunting one of the tree squirrels."

Tessal's eyes were very big and round. "Foxes can be in trees?" she asked.

There was silence, then Yasuke said, "Well, no. But the ones in Obäsan's family can and do, on occasion." His eyes were looking anywhere than at the people in the trees with them.

The other boys glared at him. "And this is from one of them, from an earlier time?" Tanov demanded to know.

"Well, ...yes," Yasuke said with a sigh. "That fox in particular was the head female of the clan."

"Was?" Su Dou wasn't going to let that pass by.

Yasuke hid his head in his shoulders. "I'm not allowed to say more. Besides that's about all I know."

They glared at Josey. He held up his hand. "I also only first learned it that night and I only know that much as well. I do agree with Yasuke. I think it's safe. We can take it back and see what Shikun says, and make Obäsan tell us if you have to have that proof, too. ...If she will." He rolled his eyes at the other boys.

"If she won't, Shikun will scold her again," Abedúl said, knowingly.

Tessal didn't like that. "I don't want her to leave because he scolds her too much," she said.

They blinked at her. "You think she'd leave?" Yasuke asked.

Tessal bit her lip and answered, unsure, "She might. You said she wasn't always here, and she disappeared when she was seen the first time. She only came to comfort Shikun when he was grieving Blake."

That made them all pause. Looks passed between all the oldest boys and Su Dou until Su Dou closed his eyes. He looked at Tessal again. "Alright. We'll take it back and see what they say, but we won't make Obäsan tell us about her family. We'll let Shikun decide if he's going to ask about it. But we are going to describe the fox.

"If they are really husband and wife, he will already know if a fox coloring like that exists in her family, and if they can fly to land in the tops of trees." He obviously didn't believe that last thought, but it was rather hard to.

"I haven't finished my round," Tessal said, pulling her head into her shoulders. "That distracted me before I finished."

The others shook their heads and looked back down. The rest who had disappeared were reappearing near the food pile. When they'd all reappeared again and had shaken their heads, each one, then those with Tessal took her back down. The rest of the wood was still clear and unentered.

Because everyone had come, all of the food and supplies went back in one trip. Tessal carried her three meat prizes on top of a small basket of turnips, that being how much she could carry that far. Her brothers still kept her in the center of them as they went, watching her to make sure she didn't suddenly disappear or something, she supposed.

She was sorry she'd not understood it could be a trap. That would have been very bad, not just for her, but for everyone if the food was poisoned. The boys made her tell the story of where the food had come from when they arrived in the main house in front of the three oldest. She was obedient and told them what the fox had looked like, too.

She did so rather dejectedly, and apologized for not understanding that it could have been a trap and harmful to everyone in the clan. The boys who'd gone scouting gave their reports, followed by DongTang's report of where the fox had come from.

Shikun had them all put the food down, then the three went through all the bags and baskets. Obäsan picked up one of the bars of lye soap and put it to her nose, then smiled. "Mistress Mira has thought of us until she couldn't contain herself."

She handed the bar of soap to Shikun who also smelled it, then gave his agreement. "She has always had a soft spot for the orphan boys of the wood. I think perhaps she must have badgered her husband enough to make him bring it."

"But the butter is from Mistress Mishra," Obäsan pointed to the crock. "How we'll be able to use it before the thaw, I have no idea, but I'm grateful. The fat will be needed by everyone. The weavers must have decided it together and gotten some of their neighbors to give up something each as well."

Everyone in the room sighed silently in relief. "It was kind of them to repay the wood that we had to leave behind, of necessity," Shikun said dryly.

"Perhaps they're hoping for more in this cold. The weaver's fingers must surely wish for more warmth than a few sticks each day," Obäsan pointed out.

"Perhaps," Sensei agreed mildly, "but this doesn't even cover what was left behind."

"And how much of that was stolen by the soldiers if the village wasn't able to return our own wagons and donkeys?" Obäsan argued back.

The adults turned to the boys. They shifted silently for a bit, then Korin said, "Even if we can't give them much, this is perhaps as much as they could offer this time. Would the soldiers have made them pay in foodstuffs themselves when they weren't able to pay in young men?"

There was sober silence. Su Dou answered hesitantly. "I think there is a good possibility that would have happened, because I don't know of anyone in the village that would have wished to have told them where we lived, or that we came into town. But if they'd been threatened, perhaps there are several that would have been too afraid to keep their mouths closed."

Grey-blue and golden eyes looked at the boys. "You have understood it," Obäsan said quietly. "When Kishi-Mujin returned, it was to be very angry and to make me very angry. The villagers had been bullied by the soldiers, and they were punished because the soldiers were prevented from punishing us, claiming that they should have been told from the beginning we were a foxtail clan. They left, scoffing that because that is what we are, we should rightfully be left to starve.

"It has taken this long for even some of the villagers to forgive us that they didn't know. Some who have helped were always willing to help. Some are afraid that now that our secret is understood, we'll attack the village. Next time, or the time after that, they'll gift us because they are beginning to freeze and are afraid of dying for that reason.

"What is the right answer?" she asked them all.

Korin had no trouble answering. "It is right to see that we help them in the small way we can, like they are willing to help us in the small way they can help us. In this way communities and peoples remain alive and in peace."

Claus added, "To refill their one wagon wouldn't take much time or effort for all of us. And if we express gratitude in that way, perhaps the breach can be repaired at least somewhat. Letting them know we recognize they aren't wholly to blame will help them and us to heal also."

The other boys gave their agreement. It would take several days for them to gather enough to fill the wagon. "Then take it from our own pile," Shikun said. "It will be repaid today. We can refill our own pile in the same amount of time as to gather it for them." Everyone stared at him in shock, but Obäsan nodded, agreeing with him.

"Instead of everyone carrying many armloads, make a line from here to the edge of the woods. Pass along the logs so there is minimal movement. It will use less of your energy and be done in less time," she offered.

Su Dou understood, as did Sensei. When the full line took all of them, plus the master and mistress, everyone helped. The food would feed all of them and they were always good examples like that to the children of the clan.

The work kept them warmed, and when the wagon was filled, they looked at it with pride. The village would be warm again for at least a little while, like their bellies would be.

It was still short rations that night with only Tessal's squirrels and rabbit in the stew, but they were as full as they'd ever been. The addition they'd been missing of the vegetables was enough to make it taste like a feast.