The next morning Reisi felt lighter, but still cold from more than just the winter chill. The empty feeling was still there and he couldn't forget the red bracelet on his wrist, but the weight of his sadness was easier to carry as he dressed for his morning patrol. He put on his usual royal robes with ease, grabbed his saber and headed for the great oak doors of his chamber. Before he pushed the doors open and took his first step out of his chambers, he took one last moment to himself and ran a finger delicately over the thin sliver of red peeking from under his white sleeve. He wouldn't get many more moments to himself after he went back to his responsibilities as King of the Blue foxes, so he allowed himself this last moment of sentimentality before putting his duty above all else, even his own feelings.

He tucked his robe sleeve securely over the bracelet, out of sight and at least partially out of mind, and made his way down the fall. Seiri greeted him near the entrance of the mansion a sad but resolved look in her eyes.

"Good morning, your highness," she greeted with a small bow.

"Good morning, Captain. I trust everything went smoothly in my absence yesterday," Reisi states more than asks. He knows his Captain is more than capable of leading.

"Yes, highness. All patrols went by smoothly and Fushimi continues to head the investigation of the death of the red fox healer," Seiri takes a small pause after this and continues in a much lower tone, "We have yet to make any real progress on the case, but the council seem to have halted any further plans for war against the Red foxes. However, I will continue to keep an eye on them."

Reisi nodded slowly, satisfied with Seiri's report, but still on edge about how little progress they had made in finding Totsuka's killer. He supposed he should count his blessings that the council had calmed their thirst for violence, at least for now.

"Thank you for your hard work, Captain. Have patrols rotate as usual today, I will return after I survey the perimeter with the rest of the honor guards. Tell Fushimi I'll be paying him a visit after my rounds to see if I can offer any assistance in furthering our investigation." He says as he begins to walk past her to greet the guards and prepare for his rounds.

"I will inform him as soon as I set up the rest of the patrols for the day. Stay safe, your highness," She offers with a small bow and a smile in his direction.

"Thank you, Captain. I'll see you soon."

With those parting words, Reisi heads out of the front entrance of the mansion with Akiyama, Benzai, Domyoji, and Hidaka in toe.

"How are you feeling, your highness?" Hidaka asks, voicing the concerns of both himself and the rest of his comrades as they begin to walk the perimeter of the town.

Reisi gives the best polite smile he can manage, "I'm fine, Hidaka, thank you for asking. The events of the last few days have simply tired me out, nothing for you or the others to be concerned about," he dismisses easily, but he could tell Hidaka and the others do not believe him.

Domyoji breaks the silence next, as no one seemed to be able to respond to the King's dismissal head-on. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're here for you if you need us, your highness. We know how hard this must be for you, so you don't need to push yourself. We're the honor guard of the greatest Blue Fox King to ever rule, we can certainly keep the town safe from a few pesky reds or even greens if they cross into our neck of the woods," the boisterous brunet said with a crooked grin.

Reisi knew his fellow foxes were only trying to cheer him up, and far be it from him to make it seem as if their efforts were in vain. The king smiled as genuinely as he could while sorrow still nipped at his heart, and it seemed that his fondness for his men showed even through his sadness as he received warm smiles from the four of them in return.

"Thank you for your chivalrous words, Domyoji, but I am fine for now. I appreciate the concern you all show for my well-being, but my duty as your King must come first and is above all else. I will not let you down or abandon you, no matter the circumstance and no matter who we must face to keep our people safe," Reisi spoke with a conviction fiercer even than the sadness that still tried to consume him. Of his duty, he was always certain, and he needed to show his people that they were what was most important to him.

The four of them stood at attention with their hands held against their hearts, "We follow wherever you go, your highness," Hidaka spoke, his voice filled with conviction and his eyes sharp with determination. The rest of his guards had similar looks.

Reisi was proud and even humbled at the sight of his men's loyalty. Though some believed he was not fit to rule because of his impure blood, or for his affection for the Red Fox tribe, he knew at least most of his people believed in him.

He had to look down for a moment as he was taken by surprise by the amount of emotion he felt. He was unused to dealing with so many of his feelings in short succession, but the events of the past few days had weakened his steel composure. He took a deep breath to compose himself before looking to his men again.

"Well, our borders won't patrol themselves, so I suggest we be on our way so as not to throw off the next rotation of guards. I'm sure the Captain would not be too happy about having to reorganize the rest of the shifts for the day," Reisi spoke, the cool and light tone he usually used to address his guards coming back and replacing the affection that layered his words before.

They all smiled and nodded as they resumed their patrol around the perimeter, two guards flanking either side of Reisi to counter an attack from any angle easily.

Moments later, when they were half-way through their perimeter patrol, Reisi's ears perked up at the unsettling quiet around them. There were no shift changes taking place at the far part of town they were in and there seemed to be little to no life in the surrounding areas. Finding it peculiar he asked, "Have the guard shifts been changed today?"

From his right, Akiyama piped up, " Not to my knowledge, your highness. Why do you ask?"

Reisi immediately felt his stomach drop and both his ears his fur standing on end. "Stop. Something is wrong," He ordered as he and his honor guard came to an abrupt stop at the outskirts of the Blue Fox's town.

"What's wrong, your highness?" Domyoji inquired, his brown ears quirking to the side in confusion.

"Isn't it odd that the guards who are meant to be patrolling this area have yet to return from their shift change? Captain Awashima has made certain that no area is ever without our protection during a guard shift change, and yet there is no one here." Reisi explained as he eyed the too-quiet tree lines that surrounded them. A heavily forested area like this was the perfect place for an ambush.

All four members of the honor guard tensed at Reisi's words and all their ears immediately perked up on high alert, finally noticing the lack of sound and other foxes in the area.

"Shit," Hidaka cursed, "We probably walked right into a trap. Everyone, protect the King!" With Hidaka's order given, the rest of the honor guard formed a protective circle around Reisi, hands on the hilts of their swords, ready for whatever came their way.

A tense moment passed as they all prepared for a danger that none of them had managed to place. Ears were moving from one side to the other trying to pick up even the slightest sound that would indicate where an attack could potentially come from. Even Reisi's cool and calm demeanor was beginning to chip under the weight of the uncertainty.

Then, a yelp came from the left side of the group. Benzai had almost his entire leg submerged in dirt that was now glowing a bright red, "From under us!" Benzai yelled, clearly trying to keep the pain he was feeling from making into his voice, but his flattened gold ears were more than enough to give away his discomfort, "Move!"

Without hesitation, Reisi and his guards moved just in time to avoid the following sets of lava-filled dirt from trapping them as they had their fellow Blue Fox. Now that the danger was visible, the three remaining guards protecting Reisi unsheathed their swords with a cry of "Bato!" as they landed in the grass a few feet away from the initial attack.

"What is that?" Domyoji yelled, fervently looking around for any further attacks.

Before he could receive an answer, almost a dozen red foxes descended on them from the treeline, "Nothing you'll live to learn about, Blue scum!"

In a blaze of fire and steel, the Red Foxes melted the snow around them as they infused their fire magic into weapons and fists alike. Reisi drew his sword and put a forcefield around their small squad to avoid the worst of the attack.

The Red Fox at the head of the attack bared his teeth ferociously, "You can hide behind that barrier all you like, but that won't stop your other klansman from getting hurt," he nodded in the direction of Benzai, who was still trapped in the lava-like quicksand on the other side of the clearing. Five Red Foxes split off from the main group and went to attack the struggling blond as he attempted to free himself.

Reisi narrowed his eyes at the underhandedness of their attackers and made to run in the direction of Benzai. "Hidaka, Akiyama and Domyoji, hold them back while I help Benzai."

"But, your highness, splitting up isn't wise. What if-" Akiyama began to protest, but was quickly silenced by Reisi putting a firm hand on his shoulder.

The king gave a small reassuring smile as he said, "I trust you all to have my back."

The three younger foxes were momentarily stunned as they looked at one another and then back at their King. They knew nothing they said would change the king's mind, and Benzai was running out of time. They each nodded as they accepted both their king's trust and his order.

Reisi gave another small smile and sprinted off in the direction of their distressed comrade.

Akiyama was the first to turn away from Reisi's retreating figure and focus on the task at hand. "Alright honor guard," he said putting his sword and body into a fighting stance, "you heard your king, keep the line and don't let a single one of them past you."

Domyoji and Hidaka were not far behind with a "Yes, sir!" and a fighting stance of their own.

Reisi knew he was doing exactly what the Red Foxes wanted him to do by splitting his attention between his men, but he knew there was no other way to save Benzai. As he sprinted over to his trapped guard, he stopped as many of the already attacking Red Foxes from getting closer to his trapped subordinate. He let out icy blasts from his blade that immobilized the majority of Benzai's attackers, but two were skilled enough to avoid the onslaught. He cursed under his breath as the red foxes who had a head start on him were already reaching Benzai.

The blond fox guard already had his sword drawn and was attempting to freeze and break the lava-like substance that was trapping his leg, but he wouldn't be fast enough to free himself.

With a quick look behind him, Reisi noticed that the Red Foxes had nearly broken his barrier, but the three honor guards he left behind seemed to be holding their ground even whilst outnumbered. He let his lips form a small, proud smile as he made the decision to retract the rest of his barrier and threw it around Benzai before the two attacking red foxes could reach him.

A moment later, Reisi could hear steel hitting the icy energy of his barrier, protecting his subordinate in the nick of time. The king wanted to sigh in relief, but he knew it was too soon to celebrate. His barrier would hold until he could reach Benzai, who seemed to be making some progress on freeing himself, but he still needed to be quick if he wanted to regain control of the situation.

When he finally reached the Red Foxes who were doing everything in their power to break his barrier, Benzai had his ears tightly tucked back into his hair as he used his own ice magic to patch the barrier and keep his attackers at bay.

Reisi came up behind one of the attackers and delivered a blow to the back of his head that knocked him over. He quickly sealed the attacker in ice to ensure he wouldn't be a threat when he eventually woke up. Unsurprisingly, the attack did not go unnoticed by the other Red Fox who had switched from attacking the barrier to throwing blazes of fire magic at Reisi as soon as he heard Reisi attack his companion.

Reisi easily blocked the fire blasts with his blade and threw back some icy daggers of his own. Most missed but one was able to graze the Red Foxe's arm and distract him long enough that Reisi could trap his legs in ice.

"Bastard," the trapped fox yelled, "You'll regret messing with us, all of you Blue's will."

Reisi looked at him in disdain and froze the rest of his limbs to stop him from struggling as he walked passed the other fox, "I think you'll find the only one with regrets will be the lot of you by the time this fight is over."

The King quickly made a space for himself inside his barrier and made quick work of the rest of the firey dirt that trapped Benzai. Once all the dirt was gone, Reisi could see burns all over the younger fox's leg. He frowned deeply as he looked up at Benzai, "We need to get this treated as soon as possible. The risk of infection on a battlefield is high."

Benzai only winced slightly at Reisi's touch but put on a strong face when he spoke, "Don't worry about me your highness, I'm sorry to have troubled you when I was meant to protect you."

Reisi could see the others ears twitching in pain and he felt guilty for not having noticed their attackers sooner. If he weren't so caught up in his feelings for Mikoto and his own hurt, none of this would have happened.

He looked up at Benzai, a fierce determination in his eyes to make sure the young fox understood that this wasn't his fault and also in an attempt to keep his own guilt under control, "Nonsense, you did an excellent job of keeping them at bay while I made my way over to you. It is no one's fault but my own for not having noticed we were walking into a trap sooner, and for that, I must apologize to you and the rest of the honor guard."

Benzai opened his mouth to reply but stopped when he felt a warm tingling on his leg. He looked down to see a warm white glow coming from his King's hand as it held his burnt limb.

"Your-your highness, what are you doing?" He stammered, unsure of what the soft white glow meant.

Reisi looked up at Benzai confused for a moment until he noticed where the young guard was looking. When his eyes trailed down to where the other's eyes were now fixated his eyes widened a fraction and his blue ears perked up.

Reisi wasn't sure what he was seeing. There seemed to be some form of energy emanating from his hand, but not like the icy blue energy he used when unleashing his ice magic, no this was different. As he and Benzai continued to observe the white energy, he began to notice exactly what it was doing. As if reading his mind, Benzai's eyes widened.

"Is that-are you- is it healing me?" The young fox could barely form coherent sentences as he watched his wounds slowly being healed by the mysterious white magic.

"I didn't know you could do that, your highness," Benzai finally said after a beat of silence.

"I wasn't aware of this either, but I should have known my mother's magic would manifest one day," Reisi said quietly, almost as if talking mostly to himself as he was transfixed by the soft healing glow of his white fox magic.

Almost as quickly as it had come, the quiet moment was broken by a shout from Akiyama in the distance.

"LOOK OUT!"

Seconds after the shout, the barrier protecting them was shattered by the combined attack of the five red foxes Reisi had knocked out on his way to save Benzai. Apparently, these foxes were more trained than they had thought when it came to dealing with ice magic.

In a heartbeat, the red foxes were on them again and Reisi instinctually put up another barrier, but with the limited room, he was only able to fully protect Benzai from the next attack. A clatter of swords and burst of fire hit the barrier around the young fox, but a stray blade managed to lodge itself in the King's flank where the barrier did not reach.

"Your highness!" Benzai yelled as he tried to bring Reisi closer to himself and the barrier just barely protecting them from the onslaught.

Reisi coughs up some blood onto his white inner robe but shows no other signs of injury, in fact, the King gives a rueful smile instead of the look of panic everyone expected.

"How unfortunate for you that the one chance at surprise you had is now wasted," He says as he dislodges himself from Benzai's hold.

The frazzled young fox begins to reach for his king desperately, ears twitching wildly in concern, "Your highness, you shouldn't move. You're hurt and-"

Reisi steps further away from the other blue fox and the barrier. He runs a hand over his side and closes the wound with his ice magic to stop the bleeding for now. Reisi takes up his sword once more and spits more blood onto the ground, "Now that you've all given me the best you've got, it's time for me to show you why I am called King and you are not."

With those menacing words, the king narrowed his eyes and unleashed a flurry of ice over the entire battlefield. As soon as the five foxes in front of him were frozen and unconscious, he created small ice platforms and lifted himself into the sky to get a better look at the entire battlefield.

He saw Hidaka, Akiyama, Domyoji and a couple of the red foxes watching him in awe as others sent blasts of fire magic his way. He easily deflected the attacks, sending blasts of ice back at his attackers in one smooth movement of his sword. When the other red foxes realized nothing they did to him would do any damage, they turned their attention back to the three Blue fox guards in their midst.

However, before they could even lift their blades to strike the Blue foxes, Reisi sent blasts of ice their way and erected walls of ice that blocked the Reds from advancing on the Blues. With his subordinates now safe, he refocused his attention and his blade on the remaining Red foxes.

"Who sent you and why have you attacked us unprovoked?" He shouted down at them.

The Red fox who seemed to be leading the charge stepped forward and growled. His ears pulled back and his fangs fully on display the older Red fox sneered as he spoke to Reisi.

"We sent ourselves after you murdered one of our own. Our king," he almost spits the word out, "may have a soft spot for you Blues, but I know what you're all really like. I've fought you all before and you are more bloodthirsty and cruel than any other fox tribe out there. Ice magic is fit for such cold-blooded killers."

Reisi's eyes narrowed at the accusation, "I can assure you that we were not responsible for the death of your healer and we are doing everything in our power to uncover who is."

"Bullshit!" Another Red fox yelled from beside the apparent leader. "There's no way Blue fox royalty would even care to help us Reds. You've never done anything in the past to help us, so why would we ever believe you?"

Reisi sighed, "Have we not all done our part to keep the peace after the Great War? Have we not all worked hard to keep things civil between our two tribes? I know that there are Red and Blue foxes alike who may not trust the other side or even be open to an amicable relationship. However, I also know that no one wants another meaningless war. Why would we incite a conflict that would only hurt both sides?"

"Liar!" The leader yelled again, "You've been seducing the king for years now to take advantage of him and kill us all. Totsuka was just the first casualty. If we don't take a stand against you now, we're all doomed!"

"Yeah!" The other Red foxes yelled as they rallied around the older fox.

"Do not be foolish!" Reisi yelled. "We are not your enemy. Totsuka's true killer is still out there and this attack will only serve to anger both sides into further conflict instead of having this tragedy ban us together in search of the truth!"

"Enough of your lies, Blue, we've heard enough!" With that, the remaining Red foxes unleashed a flurry of fire magic at Reisi.

"Your highness!" His honor guard shouted but he was too occupied with blocking the attack to acknowledge them.

It was harder to completely block a focused attack from multiple enemies, especially with a stab wound in his side, but he could do it as long as he didn't break his concentration.

Unfortunately, fate chose that moment to throw him the biggest distraction she could find.

"Reisi!" The shout pierced the battlefield and nothing on earth could have stopped Reisi from turning his attention towards that voice.

There, flanked by Seiri and Izumo and backed by both Red and Blue foxes was Mikoto leading the cavalry their way. Reisi's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the man he loved, the man he thought he might never see again, and in his distraction, he missed the attack being aimed his way by the leader of the Red fox ambush.

Reisi's joy appeared and was extinguished in the same breath. As soon as he locked his sad, hopeful eyes on Mikoto's desperate ones, he felt a stab as a small dagger sliced through his ice shield and through the flesh and bones of his chest.

At first, he thought the pain from the day before had returned and his heart simply ached at the sight of his beloved, but once he noticed he was falling and had no way of stopping his decent, he realized something was very, very wrong.

He knew he was falling but time still seemed to stop. He heard many people yelling his name but could only make out a few of the voices. He heard Seiri, frantically yelling for him and then telling the rest of the guards to hurry. He heard Akiyama, Benzai, Hirata, and Domyoji below him. And lastly, before he hit the ground, he heard the desperate yells of his beloved and hoped it was not simply his imagination.

"REISI!"

As soon as he finished saying his name, Mikoto heard the crash as Reisi hit the ground. He ignored Izumo telling him to slow down and rushed over to where his lover had fallen.

The first thing he saw was blood and a lot of it. It seemed whatever blade had pierced Reisi's chest had gone straight through and now left a freely bleeding tear in its wake. Up close he could also see another wound on Reisi's side which also seemed to be bleeding, although at a much slower pace.

Mikoto leaned forward and immediately tore open Reisi's robes to see the extent of the damage and was relieved to find the dagger had missed the Blue fox's heart, although just barely. If Reisi didn't get medical treatment soon, the blood loss alone would kill him, not to mention any internal damage he might have suffered during the fight. With a grimace, Mikoto ripped his own robes and wrapped Reisi's chest to help stop the bleeding even just a little as they waited for any available healer to arrive.

Mikoto brushed some of Reisi's sweat-soaked locks from his face and lightly petted his soft ears. A small whimper escaped the unconscious man and he leaned into Mikoto's touch. A sad smile passed over the Red King's lips as he touched Reisi's icy cheek. The Blue fox looked pale, paler than usual, and the blood loss and overall exhaustion from the fight were clearly visible in his labored breathing.

Mikoto's features were etched in worry as he watched Reisi bleed out on the ground beneath them. He was about to turn and tell Seiri to get a healer over to them faster when he heard laughter from behind him.

Shun approached from the group of Red foxes still left standing. "Well, guess an old fox still has his aim. That filthy Blue got what he deserved," he said smugly.

And just like that, Mikoto's composure snapped in the face of the man who killed his best friend and attempted to kill the love of his life. "You traitor. You dare speak to me with your smug voice and your vile words."

Shun and his followers were taken aback by Mikoto's animosity, and the rage spilling out of him in waves of red magic.

"What, my king I just did our tribe a favor by putting down this killer-"

"You killed Totsuka!" Mikoto snapped, effectively shutting Shun up.

At the older fox's stunned silence he continued speaking, taking long strides towards Shun and the other traitors. "Don't be so surprised, your son is much braver than you give him credit for. He, unlike you, knows the difference between right and wrong and cares more about the tribe than his own ambitions."

The foxes behind Shun now look at him in both confusion and betrayal.

"No, no, you're wrong- he's lying!" Shun tried to defend, but his followers were no longer listening to him.

"Do you know what we do to traitors in the Red fox tribe, Shun? You should - considering you were once one of our elders," Mikoto continued to speak as his stride grew more menacing, "Now, you're nothing more than a filthy traitor who killed his own tribesman for his own gain. The only thing a worthless fox like you deserves is death."

Shun's eyes widened and he quickly turned on his heels attempting to escape. However, his path was blocked by a wall of flames.

"There is no escape for those who kill their own."

Shun sneered and drew his sword, "You are weak, Mikoto. I did what I had to for our tribe while you sat back and courted the enemy!"

Mikoto narrowed his eyes and showed his fangs, "You missed your chance to beg for mercy, traitor. Not that I would have shown you any even if you had begged for your worthless life."

Enraged, Shun lunged forward. The old fox didn't even have time to swing his sword before he was engulfed in red flames. The rest of the foxes watched on in horror as Shun screamed in agony and was turned into nothing more than ashes.

Mikoto watched on, unfeeling, until little more than dust remained of the man who almost destroyed his life. "No blood, no bone, no ash."

"Mikoto!" Izumo came running, finally appearing in the clearing. He looked back to find that Yata had freed the traitors from their icy prison only to tie them up to take back to their village. He could see Seiri ordering blue medics around to help the injured and most importantly, to help stabilize Reisi. The remaining Blue guards subdued the few Reds not trapped in ice and set up a perimeter around the chaos, ever practical under Captain Seiri's command.

He finally turned his attention to Izumo when his fellow Red Fox was in front of him. "Well, that was pretty dramatic. You really take your motto to heart, huh?," He said with a quirk of his lips.

Mikoto grunted, "Traitors get what they deserve."

Izumo gave a nod, "That they do. And speaking of, what will we do with the rest of Shun's followers?"

Mikoto looked to the rest of the Red foxes in the field now tied up and thoroughly distraught. "We'll deal with them back at the village," He dismissed and turned back to look at Reisi, now surrounded by a full medical team.

He began to walk towards his lover when a smaller hand stopped him. "I cannot, in good conscious let you near him," the firm voice of a woman said.

He turned to look down at Seiri as she moved to block his path to Reisi, "Let me go," he said darkly.

She was not moved.

" I also cannot let you take the Red foxes who attacked our king back to your village. They are our prisoners now, charged with attempting to kill our king and destroy the tentative peace between our two tribes. If you do not wish to cause any further trouble, I suggest you leave," she said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

He yanked his arm from her grip and snarled, "Who are you to tell me what to do with my own tribesmen? We will deal with them ourselves."

"Well, you have clearly shown you are capable of controlling your tribesmen just fine, haven't you?" She countered with nothing but ice in her gaze.

"Now, now, no need for such words Seiri," Izumo interrupted, putting himself between the arguing foxes.

"The Red foxes in our custody are our prisoners, someone will need to answer for this-"

"Someone already has, and he is nothing but dust in the wind now. The traitor is dead, the one who threatened the life of your king is gone. Now leave his followers to us," Mikoto said hotely, speaking more than he was used to in one day was both irritating and exhausting and he was in no mood to talk while Reisi lay bleeding.

Seiri narrowed her eyes at him but it was evident she was beginning to give in. "Very well, we will discuss this matter at length once this is all settled and our king is in better health. However, for now, I cannot let you near him and will have to ask all of you to leave. The council will not be pleased with what transpired here today and we'll be lucky to avoid a war. You should count your losses and retreat."

"But-"

"We understand Seiri-chan, just please, keep us informed about his condition?" Izumo said, once again stepping in.

She was silent for a moment but then sighed, "Very well, I will send communications through Fushimi about the king's condition. Now, please leave before you make this situation any worse."

Mikoto was not pleased with not being able to be by Reisi's side, especially after everything he had already put him through, but if leaving would keep the peace, he would do it for all their sakes.

He turned from Izumo and Seiri and yelled out into the clearing, "Yata, Rikuo, gather the traitors and the rest of our tribesmen. We're heading back home."

"Yes, King Mikoto!" Yata yelled back before turning to the other Red foxes, "You heard your king, get these traitors back home, we'll deal with them there."

With that, Mikoto gave one last glance at Reisi's body, still bleeding into the dirt. It hurt to leave him, but he knew there was nothing he could do that the Blue healers weren't already doing to keep him alive. As they departed, Mikoto could swear he saw a soft white glow coming from where Reisi was laying.