Day 5: Yokai
Meet me at the forest
Anybody in Inazuma knew better than to approach Mt. Yougou and its forest full of fearsome creatures and yokais, some of them mostly harmless like tanukis, kodamas, bakus, etc; others malicious like yamaubas, chimis or onis. In any case, nobody, absolutely nobody in their right mind would dare to walk through those paths, unless obviously, they wanted to die or they had delusions of grandeur.
And yet, Yae couldn't believe what her tiny eyes were seeing. Never in all her centuries living as a kitsune and under the care of the forest has she seen anything like this before.
Her ears perk up upon the sound of footsteps followed by the abrupt rustling of leaves, obliging her to open her eyes to see a human kid going deep into the forest.
Yae can only watch with a satisfied grin playing on her lips the look of pure fear on the kid's face, before it begins to turn into a beaming one, the kid's eyes sparkling brightly as a smile spreads across her lips.
Yae blinks, arching an eyebrow puzzled at this, before she stands up on her four legs, stretching her tiny paws to then begin following the little girl quietly in between the shadows.
She watches with curiosity how the dark purple haired girl looks everything around her amazed, basking in the beauty of the forest and its nature as her hand touches the trees' robust trunks or she crouches to sniff the flowers, only to sneeze and giggle before continuing with her walk.
Endearing.
Yae thinks as she keeps observing and following the little one.
The kid seems to be so engrossed taking in her surroundings that she fails to notice the big fallen branch laying on the ground, tripping over it and falling as a result.
Yae can only flinch, looking with pity at the poor kid as she holds her injured knee, a nasty scrape already covering it, and yet, what really grabs her attention, is how the little girl doesn't utter a single sob even though there are tears rolling down her precious face.
Curious.
Yae thinks to herself as she leaves her hiding place in the shadows to slowly approach the little girl. The kid's eyes immediately fall on her, fear flashing in them, and if Yae could, she'd have laughed at it, but she simply ignores it and keeps approaching her tentatively, slowly, before she nuzzles the kid's hand.
She hears her gasping, before she begins to pet her unsurely, eliciting an embarrassing purr from her as the kid scratches her chin. The kid can only giggle in return and Yae strangely feels happy upon have brought out of her such a sweet sound.
One look at the still bleeding scrapped knee, and Yae decides to pull her clothes with her tiny teeth in an attempt to make the little one follow her.
- Do you… want me to follow you?
The little girl asks confused, seeing Yae nodding at her, before she does her best to stand up and begin to follow the small pink fox. Yae notices her limping in her walk, feeling bad for not being able to aid the kid in a proper way as well as oblige her to follow her, but she tells herself it's for a good cause.
Soon, they arrive at a big bush isolated from the main paths of the forest and that provides that part of the forest of special protection. Yae looks at the kid behind her before she quickly jumps into it, waiting for the little one at the other side of it.
She hears the leaves rustling, followed by a grunt, before a head peeks out in between the bush, followed suit by the full body of the kid. Once she's at the other side, the little girl can't help but gasp, looking at the sight in front of her awestruck.
Yae smiles at her cute expression, before she jumps to get her attention back, running towards the edge of the small lake in front of them.
The kid quickly follows her, stopping at the shore.
- Wow, it's so pretty!
She exclaims amazed, not noticing the small pink fox just disappeared, only to appear right behind her to push her with all her might, making her fall into the water.
A yelp is heard, before a loud splash echoes around.
- Hey! Why did you do that!?
The little one yells at the small fox as she comes to the surface with a scowl on her face. As soon as she starts to swim and walk towards the sly fox, she notices how the pain in her knee is gone as well as the scrape.
- Oh.
It's the only thing she can say as she looks and touches her knee.
- It's gone! Thank you!
She exclaims as she looks at the small fox beamingly, and Yae can't help but find her terribly adorable, deciding she likes this human.
The small fox smiles at her and lays down on the grass, resting her head on her tiny paws to watch the little kid playing around and exploring the small area before the sun begins to set.
- I have to go now, but I'll come back! Promise!
The little one exclaims on their way back to the base of the mount, scratching the fox's ears and making them flicker before she leaves the forest.
I'll be waiting for you.
It's everything Yae can think of as she watches the little girl leaving, before she goes deep back into the forest to rest and take care of it.
The little girl, Sara as Yae learns her name later, true to her word comes back as soon as she can.
And when she does, Yae notices the still fearful expression that Sara sports whenever she goes into the forest, before she trespasses its entrance completely and a happy and calm expression takes over her features, greeting Yae with a scratch under her chin that elicits a purr from her and a giggle from the little girl, before they begin to wonder through the different and wide range of paths in the forest as well as some unexplored parts of it.
She also notices how with the passage of time, the amount of scrapes, bruises and wounds marring Sara's skin increase.
- Ah, don't worry, it's nothing!
The kid always exclaims as she scratches the back of her head with an awkward smile on her face whenever she catches her staring at it intensely, refusing to get into the curative waters of the lake, only leaving Yae the option to wet her snout or paw to try and get some water over them in the hope it helps the stubborn girl.
- Really, don't worry. It's nothing.
The little one would say with nothing but sadness laced in her voice and clouding her eyes, before she scratches Yae's chin.
But Yae does worry, wondering what can be happening to Sara to end up like that, until one day she understands everything.
They're walking through the forest as usual, Yae running ahead of Sara hearing her melodious laugh fill the silence of the forest, when she fails to notice a big creature of the forest approaching her.
Out of nowhere, a hit knocks her and sends her flying several meters away. She grunts in pain, curling up into a ball, before she notices a warm touch over the fur of her wounded ribs, concerned golden eyes looking into hers.
- Are you okay? – Sara asks her concerned, before she looks behind her to see the big creature approaching them – Don't worry, little one.
It's the next thing Yae hears, seeing a comforting smile on Sara's face as she crouches to leave a kiss on her forehead, before she turns around and grabs a thick stick, running determined towards the creature.
Yae grunts, getting on her four legs with difficulties, when she sees something unexpected unfolding in front of her. Adopting a fighting stance, Sara holds the thick stick tightly, eyes blazing in rage as she spreads her majestic wings, beautiful black feathers falling as she does it.
Yae gasps mesmerized at the sight, before the loud growl of the creature pulls her out of her reverie, seeing how even though Sara looks strong and menacing, she's still too small for it, being in danger.
So Yae closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, before she shifts into a much bigger fox form, running to tackle the creature in front of them. She pounds her claws into the creature, shredding if off with the help of her teeth, until it's dead.
Then, she steps aside from the creature's corpse and shifts back into her small form, yelping in pain as she does it, before she hears rushed footsteps and feels Sara taking her in her arms carefully.
- Don't worry, you'll be okay soon – she whispers at the verge of crying as she cradles her against her body, holding her carefully while she spreads her wings wide open to fly off towards the small lake, diving into it to heal Yae's wounded ribs.
Yae can only purr happily as she snuggles into her once they're back at the surface and making their way to the shore, feeling Sara's wings wrapping them tightly to keep them warm as they lay on the grass and exhaustion takes a toll on her, falling asleep.
She then wakes up with the feeling of Sara shivering beside her as she holds her tight against her small frame, her wings still wrapped tightly around them. Yae smiles, nuzzling the little one's chest and licking her chin before she shifts into a bigger form hoping her warmth can help the tengu kid to stop shivering.
After that day, Yae understands that a great part of Sara's wounds come from being different. Fights at the school for being different, for being a tengu; hits with stones at the streets for what humans see her as a harbinger of war, or hard punishments as she trains with the Kujou to honor their surname.
She can only sigh and listen to Sara attentively as she relates her suffering, letting her stroke her fur while she licks her hand or nuzzles her in comfort, eliciting a soft smile from the kid.
With the passage of time, Yae witnesses Sara growing up, going from a beaming kid to a stoic woman known for her achievements at the battlefield, respected by many, but also feared by a few for the implications of her roots.
- Are you okay, my little tengu?
Yae says coming out of nowhere, surprising Sara who can only shriek as she covers her chest with her arms and sinks into the curative waters to hide her naked body from the mischievous kitsune.
- Oh dear, there's nothing I haven't seen already.
Yae teases her as she sits by the shore, her head resting on the palm of her hand as she looks at Sara with a sly smirk on her face, giggling at the hard blush covering the other woman's face before she puffs out her cheeks.
- Be nice.
Sara mumbles as she covers herself with her wings, and it's then when Yae's smirk disappears, gasping at the sight of her scarred and still blooding wing, as well as the small scar between her shoulder blades.
- Sara! What happened? – Yae asks worriedly about to jump into the lake, when Sara stops her, swimming back to the shore where she is, but not getting out of the water yet.
- Y-you know how some of my men still feel about tengus.
Sara explains and Yae knows, she knows all too well.
No matter how many years, centuries even go by, humans still see tengus as demoniacal and dangerous yokais, harbingers of wars and chaos, unable to see them as nothing more than that, unable to see them as protective yokais.
She knows, how even with the passage of time, people still see Sara as one of those harbingers of war and not as their protector. She notices the spiteful gazes she gets whenever they walk together through the city's streets, she hears the bad comments about their general, but especially, she sees the wounds on the other woman's skin that she tries so hard to hide and erase inside the curative waters of the lake like at that very moment so Yae doesn't get worried.
Oh how she wishes they would see her as their protector. That they would respect her and see Sara the same way as they see her, as somebody that even being a trickster given her cunning kitsune roots, is worthy to be worshipped and asked for protection and guide.
Yae sighs as she pulls Sara's short hair apart to spread some water onto her back and wing, covering her wound with it to help her heal, before she leaves a kiss on the general's nape.
- So they attacked you because of it – Yae says more as an affirmation than as a question, hearing Sara sighing before she takes one of her hands to leave a kiss on her palm.
- It doesn't have any importance.
- Sara-
- Yae, it's okay – Saya says with authoritarian voice, sighing upon have been so harsh to Yae, before she turns around to kiss her softly and Yae can only sigh deeper.
- You know I could easily have Ei to punish them for betraying and attacking their own general. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to end with traitors like them.
Yae says seriously, her gaze growing hard upon thinking about those bastards and Sara getting hurt because of them and their believes, feeling her rage melting away as soon as she feels the soft touch of Sara cupping and stroking her cheek.
- I know, but it's okay. I'm not going to be like them.
Yae can only look at the merciful woman in front of her and smile, circling her neck with her arms to pull her into a deep and tender kiss.
Honoring to what humans think of her as a kitsune, she'll be a proud guardian. But she'll only be Sara's guardian so nobody else hurts her for ancient and absurd believes about tengus, as well as the forest's guardian because it's the place where they met.