Lost to a Memory

by ThatEvergreenGirl

Ryuu, a kitsune whom protects Earth's sanctuaries and spirits, has his life thrown into chaos when it's revealed that a spirit in his care has unwittingly freed the infamous Kukiko. Circumstances require Ryuu and Jack Frost to recapture the phantom together, though it is foretold that Jack Frost will determine the outcome of their venture. This, Ryuu fears, could be their downfall.

2. The Bond

Lost to a Memory

Chapter 2: The Bond

With the spirit that called himself Jack Frost sleeping the sleep of the dead inside, Ryuu softly padded across the snow carpeted patio to fold himself upon porch steps. Through the wooded stripes of the trees which grew along the shoreline, several kodomas, or tree spirits, were visible; delightedly tracing the fern like patterns that Jack had left in the ice of the moon pool. Behind and to the right of Ryuu, a larger spirit (having the body of a deer with a long silvery neck) picked its way upon the patio and peeped through the shrine's windows at the sleeping Jack inside. It turned it's head when Ryuu made a growling noise in his throat. The growl was nothing to frighten the spirit, just to have her know that she was not to interfere with his guest. The spirit's silver eyes blinked owlishly at him from behind a painted woman's mask and then it serenely wandered past him, brushing his robes with a very long, catlike tail as she bounded down the stairs and into the night. She paused only to sniff at the Kodamas rolling across the ice before disappearing entirely from sight.

The majority of the spirits in the sanctuary were lesser spirits; neither good nor bad. There involvement with people were based solely off of their natural instincts and character. This could lead to great fortune, or misfortune. The masked spirit, for instance, would give sleeping people addictively euphoric dreams. After she'd had her fill from feeding off the hosts euphoria, and went on her way, the host would suffer nightmares and depression for as long as three weeks. As much as the frost sprite annoyed him, Ryuu decided that Jack should have a sleep that would not lead to depression or later sleepless nights.

Ryuu pulled his tail around himself and let it rest in his lap as he lazily stroked out the snarls and clumps of ice that had stuck there after Jack's temper tantrum, putting no real effort into the grooming, but rather using the methodical action to help his thought processes. Had Kukiko not been released, Ryuu would be charged with ensuring that other sanctuary seekers were left unbothered by the more potentially dangerous lesser spirits. That was no longer a task that the kitsune could put aside the time for. They would have to manage themselves now. Ryuu sighed and fell across his tail, burying his face into his fur as if to hide from the new duty that Jack had forced upon his shoulders. Jack had indeed woken some of the more pesky spirits. Ones that had been dormant for months to years. With every hour that Jack was there, surely even more would surface from their deep sleeps in search of whomever it was that emitted such an enticing aroma or sensation of energy; the same energy that Kukiko had used to free herself. Would she be after the unwittingly powerful Jack Frost? Should Ryuu wait for her to come to them? Or would she be out already, feeding off of memories and looking for more spirits to place under her command before she challenged a more powerful spirit? Where would she have gone? And the most concerning question yet: how would Ryuu find a way to defeat her this time?

A loud popping noise jolted Ryuu out of his troubled pondering. In an instant, Ryuu had straightened; ears perked and twitching around in search for any noises that would announce other intruders in the area, and, without having made a single protest at being drawn, his katana glinted eagerly in the moonlight. The popping noise had come from the purifying basin, and over the ice sealed water, a soft, hazy light shone gently. Seeing that the invader was only a spectre - a messenger sent from a greater spirit; most whom, in Japan, had shrines where they lived and conducted their business, and were thus called shriners, like himself - Ryuu relaxed, though not entirely. He sheathed his katana and reluctantly gathered himself up to greet the spectre of water that took on the form of a standing catfish.

"Yessss?" He asked it, pulling the 's' consonant through his teeth in a long hiss.

"Her magnificent ladyship, Mizuko of the Japanese Waterways, requests a conference with the kitsune, Ryuu." The spectre garbled monotonously.

Ryuu noticed the spectre's purposeful neglect of his formal name. "Now?" he asked it with increasing irritance.

The spectre paused as though listening to something that Ryuu could not hear. "Her elegance, Mizuko, requests that you make preparations for herself and the five neighbouring deities by tomorrow. They will arrive in the morning."

Ryuu nodded curtly and moved on without a goodbye or being dismissed: past the basin and to the icy edge of the moon pool. Another 'pop', far quieter now that he'd put some distance and the trees between himself and the purifying basin, marked the spectre's departure. As he walked over the ice with gliding footsteps to join the Kodamas at the fern design, Ryuu vaguely wondered if Mizuko would chastise him about his rude treatment of her spectre. Probably not. At least not if she didn't hold him to the unrealistic expectations that she'd had of him when they'd first met. He was a fox. Not a noble.

"It's quite lovely, isn't it?" Ryuu asked the Kodamas softly, crouching to regard the skillful design more efficiently. They cooed ghostly at him and formed a little circle around his hand which he traced over the wispy etchings, marvelling at their artistry. Perhaps Jack was made up of something more than just destruction and mischief. Maybe he had judged the spirit too harshly.

"What do you guys think? Should I give the him another chance?"

The Kodamas, tiny tree spirits with bark covered, twiggy bodies, not much larger than Ryuu's hand, simply continued to gaze up at him unblinkingly, making the shushing sound of wind through foliage through the unmoving dimple where their mouths would be. Though their eyes were small and beetle like, they were the colour of newly furled leaves when the sun shone through them. If there was one spirit that Ryuu would not have to worry about, it was the Kodama's. They were curious creatures, that sometimes got underfoot, but they were not at all intrusive. They were peaceful and kind enough to even help him with the very occasional gardening that had to be done.

Ryuu stood then and took a long, deep breath with his face to the stars, eyes closed, letting the cool light wash over him as if it was just as warming as the sun's. Ryuu could not understand why Man in the Moon had neglected to tell Jack more about himself and what he had become. From the sounds of it, Jack had not even been received by other spirits that could take him under their wing while he was introduced to his new, and likely confusing, life of spirit-hood. It was cruel, and perturbed Ryuu greatly for him to think about the spirit all alone and unable to be seen by regular people. Something was off about that whole situation; it was very unlike Mim to be so irresponsible and disinterested. He would have to look into it once Kukiko no longer imposed such a threat. For now, she was his biggest priority.

"Kodama's." Ryuu said in a loud voice of authority. The four Kodama's at his feet looked up at him expectantly. The trees of the sanctuary, though no longer with leaf, became alive with the sound of a summer breeze through a green and vibrant forest. Branches waved and swayed, trunks creaked as they became attentive to whatever Ryuu had to tell them, and suddenly a multitude of green, glowing orbs shone out at him in pairs from behind the things of the forest.

"Our home is in danger from the phantom Kukiko." Ryuu told them all grimly. "I will protect us from the danger as well as I can, but your vigilance, too, would be very welcome. I'd ask you to please alert me to anything that could be her, or that feels wrong to you. I trust your instincts. Thank-you." Ryuu bowed humbly to the forest. The kodamas were, after all, far more ancient than he was, and understood the universe in a way that he never could. The glowing orbs appeared to reciprocate the bow, and then they were gone. One of the Kodamas on the ice patted Ryuu's foot before fading away with the rest of them, back to its tree where it would be better aware of its surroundings.

Ryuu was, seemingly, alone but for the stars and the moon, and it was time he returned to making rotations of the sanctuary. Knowing what waited for him now, Ryuu untied a black strip of cloth from the grip of his katana, and used it to pull back his hair in a knot at the back of his head, though wisps of hair still hung down around his face. Long, loose flowing hair in a battle was not advantageous; it gave the opponent just another thing to grab onto and use against you, and Ryuu would do whatever he could to avoid giving Kukiko any further advantage over him, no matter how seemingly small.

Ryuu looked back at his shrine wistfully, longing to go back inside and curl up with a hot tea in his bed. The shrine had been there when he'd first arrived at the sanctuary, before he had become a kitsune. It was a common nagre-zukuri shinto shrine, with a roof of green tile that came to an arrete in the middle of his closed in living quarters, and then curved down and projected out to include the larger entrance veranda, making the building appear asymmetrical, though still streamlined and pleasing to the eye. The walls were painted white, it's old timbers: carefully revarnished and polished after Ryuu had decided on the place as his new home. The stripe of red that he had painted the three teared railings with, added a nice splash of colour.

Lit with it's contentedly flickering lanterns and blanketed in a light sheet of snow, the shrine would have looked quite serene. However; now surrounded by curious spirits of every sort (some peeping through the windows, others circling expectantly above it or residing in the trees that hung over its roof) the shrine appeared almost nightmarish. For only a few minutes Ryuu had left the sprite, and now his shrine was nearly over-run with spirits! Ryuu sighed and moved towards his freshly haunted house to make another borderline before he started his patrol, just in case one borderline couldn't quite make the cut against the push of so many spirits.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Morning came and Ryuu felt a sense of relief when the warmth of the sun crept up his body and shone upon his face. He sat cross legged upon the shrine's porch steps with his katana in his lap, back straight and ears perked, waiting for any sign from the forest that his unwanted guest had infiltrated the security measures that he'd placed around their home in the night. He shivered once. It was colder than usual and snowing again. It was a strange type of snow, like a cloud of ice crystals; so fine that it hung in the air and shimmered magically as though it were a fine glitter.

Ryuu stretched and wondered how soon his neighbouring shrine dwellers would be there. They would not be going into his shrine, so Jack could stay where he was: tucked safely out of the way where no trouble would find him. Hopefully, anyways, for Ryuu had a growing suspicion that trouble was not just the sprite's tag-along, but rather Jack's well known and invited friend. Yes, it was better for all of them if Jack remained sleeping and out of the way. The kitsune wasn't left waiting much longer for his guests. As soon as the sunlight had reached up to warm his chilled ears, their arrivals began.

Mizuko emerged from the moon pool, preceded by her tall and wild looking guards who crashed through the ice with their brute force and strode before her impressively, creating a wake of water that was unobstructed by ice. Using only a single, crystal embellished hair stick, Mizuko had artistically piled her dark hair up upon her head in elegant loops and spirals. Long tendrils of it trailed behind her, flowing in the water like the ribbon-ish tail of a goldfish. Beautiful, wild, and charismatic, she was the master of all the waterways in Japan, and very well known.

"The others should be here shortly," Mizuko told Ryuu in a clipped, low voice once they'd exchanged the formalities. She wore a tasteful, dark purple kimono with a koi fish design and held her head high on a gracefully long neck which she used to look down upon him haughtily. Ryuu flicked an ear but said nothing and she turned away with a sniff. It was strange, but he'd never realized before that, indeed, he was quite a bit shorter than even Mizuko. But she was quite a tall woman, he reassured himself.

Less than a minute after that slightly unpleasant fact had been made aware to him, a great wind swept through the place, shaking the trees and catching at their robes. The slight figure of Horuto, the wind shriner, descended over the trees along the far bank of the moon pool and zipped across the ice like an arrow upon a long gust of wind. In a second, he had swooshed up to them and righted himself, hopping off the wind current that whipped up the snow into banks and stirred the air to make it shimmer with diamond dust all the more. Ryuu and Mizuko blinked rapidly at the gust of wind that had blasted them rudely in the face.

"Alright, Ryuu," Haruto growled pugnaciously, smoothing out his wind breaker and stomping towards Ryuu in his combat boots. "How 'bout you tell us how -"

Mizuko threw up her hand. "Wait until the others arrive. I'm sure that they'll want to be a part of the discussion, don't you think, Horuto?"

Horuto brushed away some of the blonde, untidy hair out of his grey eyes to fix her in an impressive glare. "Well if her ladyship Mizuko thinks so, then of course miss Mizuko, we will always agree with you, your excellence. There is no word higher or wiser than your own."

"Don't you think that it makes sense we wait? Then anything someone else has to add may-"

"Oh, so mature, so diplomatic, do go on, your ladyship, about how your decision is best for-"

Ryuu rolled his eyes as the two bickered back and forth in a practiced, nearly habitual way. The two had always clashed, probably because they were so alike; each had to have their own way and could tended to reside on the over dramatic. Ryuu was glad when Morina, the earth shriner, queen of forests and land emerged from the trees beyond the shrine. She had leaves in her coiled, hopelessly tangled, black hair, and though her skin appeared as textured old bark, there was a youthful, timeless quality to her face. As she moved placidly up the hill in a long, silken green skirt that was slitted up to her hip on one side and held there by a copper clasp, the trees seemed to bend towards her, each one trying to take her notice. Komada's peeped shyly around the things of the forest, communicating with their shushing noises as they followed her at a respectful distance. She stopped to turn, and Ryuu imagined her smiling at them, for the Kodamas whispered excitedly amongst each other and danced about in fits of joy. Ryuu thought he saw a small maple Kodama faint by the pleasure of having such a smile bestowed upon it.

"Ryuu," Morina purred when she'd come up to him. She softly stroked a hand across his cheek, then up and over a long ear. Her dazzling green eyes smiled lovingly at him.

Ryuu smiled back and dipped his head courteously. It was she who had nursed him back to health and mentored him upon his new senses and abilities as a fox spirit. Ryuu also guessed that she had a soft spot for anyone that was more strongly bound to the forest, and who was more bound than a kitsune who's life revolved around protecting the fantastical forests of the sanctuaries? Before they could begin to truly enjoy one another's company, Tenjin and Kuro, the last visiting shriners, arrived along the path that led them through the forest and to where they had all gathered. Tenjin was carried by owl faced shrine maidens upon a lavishly decorated litter while Kuro walked beside them, nodding and responding to pauses where Tenjin allowed them in their conversation, but looking very much like he'd rather be buried in a snowbank than have to listen to whatever it was that Tenjin lectured him about so relentlessly.

"So." Ryuu began once they were all together. Tenjin and the arguing wind and water spirits quieted. "I imagine that this gathering might have something to do with Kukiko?"

There couldn't be many other reasons to request a gathering so unexpectedly; exempting Kuro and Morina, the shriners didn't like him very much. His past was tainted with blood and battle that had once torn through the landscape and killed many of their most devoted followers; a crime that had rendered many shriners powerless, or had even caused them to disappear into oblivion. Despite Ryuu's mental and physical transformation, there would be no pardoning such a past, but - as frustrating as their constant contempt for him was - Ryuu couldn't hold it against them. If he were in their position, he might also find it too painful to forgive the murder of his wards and friends. In fact, there had been a time when Ryuu would have unleashed a terrible, most fearsome vengeance upon anyone who dared commit such an act against his loved ones. Perhaps he still would have, though he hoped not. There was no knowing what someone would do in a situation until they were there.

"Yeah, but not just Kukiko, the little bugger, too" Horuto snapped. "Where is he? I've got a word for the punk that starts with some pretty strong sign language," He smacked a fist into his palm meaningfully.

Morina placed a twiggy hand lightly upon Horuko's shoulder. "Calm yourself, Horuto. Violent rashness has no place in a sanctuary."

"Morina's right." Ryuu said, and noticed Mizuko bristle just a bit

"Said the Shadow Walker", she whispered to her general guard, who had gills and a catfish beard, using Ryuu's old mercenary name.

Ryuu ignored the barb. "And I'm sorry, Horuko, but I'm not entirely sure who you mean, by the bugger." Though Ryuu knew undoubtedly who Haruko's rage was meant for and found it hard not to glance back at the shrine where the frost sprite still slept.

"Oh, don't feign daftness," Mizuko accused coldly. Her teeth were sharp points in her mouth. "That is not a way of the fox."

"The winter sprite, Ryuu." Tenjin said impatiently. The scholarly spirit stood before his waiting shrine maidens and litter with an air of wisdom and authority. His thin beard, tied at his chest by a cord with a metal bauble on either end, came as low as his waist and (beneath his tasselled, furry ear flapped hat) Ryuu knew him to be completely bald. The shriner of knowledge.

"You know exactly who we mean:," he continued, "the spirit that buried our shrines, and the access routes to them, beneath three feet of snow."

Ryuu fought the urge to release a long and exasperated groan. The winter sprite had indeed gone and gotten himself into a far larger mess than he'd thought. "I'm positive that he did so unwittingly," he tried.

"Yes, but it's far more serious than that, my friend" Morina informed him softly. She and the other guests turned their attention to Kuro, indicating that it was his story to tell.

Kuro stiffened, yellow-hazel eyes flashing to each face there, looking awkward and surprised at their sudden attentiveness. He was tall, of strong build, and, like most farmers, had a very tanned face beneath his bowl-like, straw hat. The wisps of choppily cut hair that was visible around his face gave away the age that he'd become a shrine spirit at; it was nearly overtaken by silver. Ryuu liked Kuro; he treated everyone with great respect and kindness, no matter where they'd come from. When they spoke, Ryuu could tell that Kuro guarded himself (he'd been one of the shriners that had nearly been destroyed during Ryuu's violent years and had been good friends with many of the spirits who had not been as lucky as Kuro had) but Kuro also laughed and had fellowship with him. It was a tentative friendship, one that would need more time to grow further trust, but a friendship all the same.

Clearing his throat, Kuro began. "Well, as you know, my shrine is closest to Kukiko's Keep. When the blizzard hit, I knew that it was from no natural source and went out to look for the spirit that caused it, thinking that maybe I'd be able to calm it down and stop the storm. I followed the pull of the spirit's energy to the keep just in time to witness it release Kukiko, and fly into your sanctuary, Ryuu."

Kuro paused to allow interjections, and Ryuu accommodated him.

"And you think he did so on purpose?" he inquired. Ryuu had already suspected that Jack had somehow freed Kukiko, but hoped, for the sake of the frost sprite, and for the confidence he had in his own judgement, that Jack had not done so intentionally.

Kuro opened his mouth to continue, but Tenjin responded before he could answer.

"What does it matter? Regardless of whether he meant it or not, because of your guest, Kukiko is back to haunting the innocent and is on the hunt for souls to puppeteer. And to make matters worse, all of our shrines have taken a substantial amount of damage; the people who visit will find their paths blocked by the snow and our shrines in a state of disarray. How can we grant wishes to remain strong and help our believers when the people will not come to make their wishes known?"

As much as Ryuu hated to admit it to himself, preferring to think Tenjin pompous and melodramatic, the issues he raised were a concern. Being a spirit of a shrine was more advantageous in that people would come and make requests to whichever Shriner could help them in their area of need and, upon helping them, the Shriner grew stronger as belief in them rose. Tenjin, for instance, mostly received requests from students studying for exams and Kuro was kept busy in the summer helping tend to people's crops. But if the shriners failed to continually fulfill wishes and help their believers, or if people did not come to make requests, they grew weak as belief in them faded. With Kukiko on the loose, it was more important than ever to stay strong; to help their people, and to protect themselves against possession. But a few days to a week would not cripple them or render them helpless.

"I understand that that is a problem and, if I must, I will personally go to each of your shrines and clear a path to wherever you desire, as well as repair the damage that has been done to your homes. But I think that my time would be better spent stopping Kukiko, don't you think?" Ryuu asked them softly, hoping to shame them all into resorting their priorities.

"But, Ryuu…" Kuro said hesitantly, "you hardly survived your last battle against Kukiko."

"It's the kitsune's job, Kuro," Tenjin snapped."The only reason he exists is to protect the sanctuary and the spirits; that means us. You can go on you way and defeat Kukiko, Ryuu, but we do demand penance for the crimes committed last night."

"I can offer my labour and apologies, but other than that…" Ryuu trailed off, hoping uselessly that the Shriners wouldn't get Jack Frost any more involved in Shriner politics than he had to be. The sprite was irritating and immature, but he had been seeking a place of rest and safety (for that was the only way that someone could enter a sanctuary) and Ryuu felt obligated to at least try to offer him such a place.

Mizuko made an impatient tsking sound. "Stop this game, Ryuu. You know that we mean to punish the winter sprite, not you."

Ryuu's tail twitched as his previous hope was dashed. "And what type of punishment were you thinking?"

"Fifty years of imprisonment, and a beating." Horuto answered immediately.

Kuro grimaced, but the other shriners looked thoughtful.

"You've got to be kidding. Fifty years?" A shocked voice exclaimed above them. This was followed by a peal of laughter.

Ryuu's toes clenched and he turned around slowly, cursing Jack for his recklessness and bad timing. The frost sprite stood on the roof of Ryuu's shrine, nonchalantly leaning up against his gnarled staff. He still had dark shadows beneath his eyes, but was appeared to be more energetic than Ryuu had seen from him so far. And that could only dangerous in Jack's current situation.

"That's a little harsh, don't you think? Besides, a little snow never hurt anyone; it's fun! And with the bit of exercise that it takes to clear a path through the snow, you can all work off your rice cakes!"

Ryuu's tail fell between his legs. Jack was more of an idiot than he'd feared.

"Obnoxious little brat," Horuto growled, flicking his hand out at the sprite.

With a surprised yelp, Jack was made airborne, an enormous gust of wind shooting him off of the roof and pulling him (as well as a few green tiles, Ryuu noticed grimly) into the open air above it. Horuto made a movement with his hand like a karate chop, and then Jack was thrown towards the ground with a ferocity that he would surely find difficult to rise from again.

"Stop!" Jack commanded before Ryuu could interfere, and just like that, the wind changed its allegiance so that Jack hovered before them, a look of relief and glee upon his face. "Woo! Is that all you got? Bring it on, blondie!"

Ryuu felt Horuto stiffen beside him, and wondered vaguely whether his guardianship extended over spirits that had no self preservation skills. Surely it was a waste of time to try to save someone who was stupid enough to threaten an ancient, and angry, Shriner danger, wasn't it? Horuto acted before Ryuu had the chance to make up his mind, clapping his hands together so that an enormous gust of wind barrelled towards Jack with the sound of a freight train. Instead of trying to move out of its path, Jack took a deep breath, and held out his staff in front of him with two hands. The wind never hit him though; Ryuu had thrown up a borderline between the two opposing spirits. He had, however; not bothered to keep an eye on the other shriners, and a trail of water, encouraged by Mizuko's subtle head tilts, reached out from the area within the moon pool that had been freed from the ice, slithering purposefully under the borderline, and once it had made it past unnoticed, it expanded and pounced at the unsuspecting Jack with surprising force, knocking him from the sky. The hooked shepherds staff was flung from his grip, and then snatched out of Jack's grasping fingers by another vine of water. Jack fell upon the roof of Ryuu's shrine with a shout, rolled off end of it, and struck the ground hard.

"Enough!" Ryuu barked, pulling his katana from its sheath. "Nobody fights here." His voice was low, and quiet, daring anyone to contradict him, and his usually vibrant, purple eyes had darkened noticeably, to the colour of an eggplant. He had suddenly become quite wolfish looking, larger than he was, with long, black nails, and a narrow, peaked face. The very air around him seemed to seethe with an unspoken threat.

Bravely, for the other shriners had backed away from him, Morina put a calming hand between Ryuu's tight shoulder blades. "Easy, my friend," she soothed. "Mizuko is restraining the winter child to keep the peace and ensure justice, not to harm him. See? The Winter child is unable to fly away or fight. He appears to be held just as captive as his staff, now that it is taken from him. I see it in his eyes, the way he now stands so erect and unmoving; he will not leave without his staff."

The air around Ryuu settled, he seemed to fall back into himself, his face falling back into its regular, fine features, and his nails shortening somewhat. The group of Shriners had an air of relief to them, and Mizuko gave a curt nod to her bristling guards (all eyeing Ryuu's katana distrustfully) to be at ease again. "It is done." she said, and handed the staff that she had called the water to take from the sprite to Tenjin. Jack watched on in obvious agitation, eyes locked on the item.

"As suspected," Tenjin said, turning the stick around in his hands to examine it. "This staff acts as the spout to our convicts power. As long as he does not have the staff, he cannot fight."

"Give it back," Jack demanded, and darted forward, but came to a quivering halt, with a gasped 'no', for Tenjin had held out the staff parallel with the ground; gripping it in two hands as though about to snap it in half. Ryuu chose not to intervene this time, knowing that stopping Jack from egging on a fight was top priority and, besides that, he also knew that Tenjin would never destroy a spirit's artifact without proper cause. But Jack was unaware of that fact, so he stood with his knees bent and his fists clenched, indicating that he was ready to fly at them should he need to, but his dangerous expression was not fully able to mask his desperate need for the comfort of the staff in his hand.

"I won't fight, just give me back my staff," he said in a quiet, diplomatic voice.

"First," Horuto said with a fierce smile, making his face look sharp, "judgement."

Ryuu detected a flash of apprehension in Jack's narrowed, ice blue eyes, but he stood resolute even so. Aggravated, he could not help but think that it was about time that the uneasily shuffling frost sprite finally understood the gravity of his situation. It was about time. Maybe now he'd be a little less careless with his taunts and impulsiveness.

"Oh, has the winter sprite lost his way to fly away from a fight?" Horuto mocked, clearly having also seen the trepidation through Jack's act.

"Focus on passing your judgement so that I can leave to be after Kukiko, please." Ryuu snapped instantly. He hated bullies. "The longer this takes, the less time I have to prepare for my journey and the more time Kukiko has to get ahead."

The shriners had the grace to look abashed and then talked amongst themselves with hushed voices. Just as Morina predicted, Jack stayed rooted to his spot on the other side of the glowing borderline, anxious eyes still fixed upon the precious staff, held hostage by Tenjin, as he waited for their decision. Ryuu hoped that they would be fair. The better known shriners in Japan (and all of his guests were that day) were quite often very vain, (though Kuro and Morina; thankfully not) and, if they'd thought they'd been offended and inconvenienced, they could be shamelessly prejudiced. Though they had other shrines all over Japan, the shriners had taken serious insult to Jack's damaging of the ones in Ojiro and Jack's lack of of morose towards his wrong-doings did not help the situation. Ryuu's faith was thus in Kuro and Morina to bring some level of rationality to the hearing. But such faith quickly dissolved because, instead of arguing against Horuto, Tenjin and Mizoko (as Kuro was doing) Morina, the most powerful of them all, stood at the outer edge of the grouped shriners, humming a wistful little tune to herself.

Ryuu stared at her, hard; first, because he was so baffled at her disinterest, then; because he was furiously trying to telepathically communicate his grievance with her. When he had become one of the shriners, and their laws included him, and many of the shriners wished to punish him with a wrathful rage, she had tirelessly and compassionately argued his own case. So why then was she not doing the same for the frost spirit who had never before had dealings with the shriners? Surely she understood that there was no way that Jack could have possibly known what effect his actions would have on them all. Not that that would clear Jack of responsibility for his violations, but it should have given him some allowances. Though he was sure that she felt his eyes burning into her, she soundly ignored him and continued to hum her song over the hissed voices and shouted insults (mostly thrown between Kuro and Horuto). Then, without Morina offering a single word to the discussion, the shriners whispering subsided and their circle divided, suggesting that a conclusion had been made. Tenjin stepped forward to address Jack, and, by the smug look on Horuto's face, and Kuro's guilty glances at Jack, Ryuu knew that the outcome was not going to be to his liking.

"We have ruled fifty-seven years of imprisonment to be an adequate punishment."

The air became colder, and Jack was a statue. "Oh, you actually were serious. f-fifty-seven. I'm not sure I can last fifty-seven in a confined…" his panicked eyes met Ryuu's and begged.

"Or," Ryuu interjected. What was he doing? He should stop. There was already enough on his plate. But his mouth formed around the words of his ludicrous proposition anyways. "The winter spirit can serve me for seventy years. Thirty-seven if he does anything remarkable to help me defeat Kukiko."

Morina smiled and Kuro's shoulders dropped in relief as though some of his guilt had been lifted, but Horuto, Tenjin, and Mizuko all had faces similar to the one Ryuu thought he might make if he'd found something distasteful in his morning tea. Mizuko opened her mouth to protest, but Ryuu talked over her.

"He owes me a life debt," Ryuu continued. "See the ice on the purifying basin?" he pointed to the basin. The water that'd been splashed out during Jack's attempts to escape had been held in the cracks between the cobbled stones and frozen there to create shiny jigsaw puzzle edges. "That is from last night, when Jack had to be exorcized of Kukiko. If I had not helped him, Jack would be nothing more than a shadow to be puppeteered. I saved him, so he is mine." Ryuu refused to look at the Frost spirit, fearing that if he did, he would pull back his offer.

"The Winter Child is in debt to all of us, not just you." Tenjin reminded him.

"But it is I that he owes his life to. And Kuro was right that I barely defeated Kukiko last time; I could use another set of eyes to watch my back. Besides, imprisonment will not right his wrongs, so - seeing that he was the one that set her free - the winter spirit may as well help me get rid of her."

The shriners immediately began to argue over top of one another; Kuro preferring the new idea, Horuto feeling 'swindled out of revenge, er, justice', and Tenjin admitting that he wouldn't mind seeing Kukiko taken care of sooner rather than later, even if it meant that Jack's punishment wasn't quite as harsh as he thought to be fair. Mizuko angrily responded to this confession by calling Tenjin traitorous. Then Morina cleared her throat and put up her hand, casting instant silence upon the group. She had their attention immediately.

"Ryuu's alternative is just," She told them all. "The winter spirit will spend seventy years in servitude to Ryuu. Thirty-seven should he play an irreplaceable role in defeating Kukiko."

Ryuu closed his eyes a moment and heaved a great, inward sigh. Things had become very complicated all of the sudden. How was he going to manage such a turbulent spirit when he was already faced with an almost impossible task that had nearly devastated him the last time? Upon feeling a disturbance to his borderline, Ryuu opened his eyes and turned to to see that Jack had walked up close to it and was now tapping it with a finger, his face drawn, as he pulled their attention back to himself.

"You guys are going to have to come up with a plan C, I think, because I don't really do either the imprisoned thing, or the servant thing very well and neither seem fair."

"Jack," Ryuu cautioned, and shook his head at him, warning that this was not a fight that Jack could win, and, if he argued with their decision, he could only succeed in making matters worse for himself. Ryuu secretly agreed with Jack, of course, but - as beings that had likely lived ages longer than the spirit, and had a very traditional and sometimes harsh culture amongst themselves - most Shriners had a different perspective than other spirits (greater or lesser) of what justice meant. To the majority of Shriners, Jack's punishment was more than reasonable.

"You're getting off lucky, little Frost Sprite." Horuko growled dangerously.

"Okay, why do people keep calling me little? And I hate to be the one to crush your ego down like this, but I'm pretty much the same height as you. And you're older than me, so if anyone's little, it's you, snowflake."

Horuto's eyes widened with Ryuu's, a mixture of surprise and rage. Never before had Ryuu met someone who was stupid enough to purposefully rattle the wind shriner's nerves. If they didn't act quickly, Jack (without the protection of his staff) was sure to get himself killed. There were ways around borderlines that Horuto, who had stomped up to the glowing wall of light, would find soon enough. Hopefully Jack's lack of mentoring and weapon had left him vulnerable to what needed to be done.

Horuto had begun to talk threateningly under his breath to the spirit so that no one but Jack could hear. Jack looked very alarmed at first, but then shook away his fear with a dark grin and responded equally so, his fists trembling at his sides. While this occurred, Ryuu struck his katana across the ground three times at his feet - each strike sending up a glowing wall around Jack, who did not (or refused) to take notice - in a crude drawing of an open square, using blue scars in the snow as the box's lines. Ryuu then nodded meaningfully at the others and, knowing exactly what Ryuu needed of them, each offered up a personal artifact with an air of great significance.

Kuro fiddled with something at his ear and produced a small, hooped earring with a teardrop amber stone that dangled from it and glistened merrily in the sun. With a dramatic flourish, Mizuko plucked out her ebony hairstick and flung out her hair so that it fell around her like a silk waterfall, several wet strands falling before her darkest of blue eyes so that she looked more wild and beautiful than ever. Tenjin nodded to one of his shrine maidens, who bent into his litter to emerge with a richly adorned, wooden box. From it's satin lined belly he took out a plain looking quill. And from a worn leather pouch around her neck, Morina added a simple stone that looked like it could have been taken from a riverbed, but for the carefully carved tree at its centre. They quickly, and carefully, placed these items in a circle before them and Ryuu drew a circle in the snow around the items with his katana; then placed the sword at the circle's centre.

They all looked at Morina expectantly, and she obliged: "Let Judgement be passed, that the winter child, who committed the crime of freeing the phantom Kukiko, and damage the shrines of Tenjin, Horuto, Mizuko, Kuro, and Morina, become servant to Ryuu, the kitsune, for seventy years, or thirty-seven should he play an irreplaceable role in detaining Kukiko." Her voice carried an indisputable authority.

A great beam of white light shot out from the circle of artifacts. It quickly took on a more physical form. Instead of being an abstract, blinding, brilliance, the light seemed to come out from the centre of the circle as silvery waves. It sailed in a spiralling, gentle way across the snow, slowly stretching and reaching (shedding white little sparks that hovered like fireflies before drifting to the ground and dissolving into the snow) towards the boxed in Frost Spirit.

At first, Jack was too distracted by Horuto's bellowed threats to be concerned about the tendrils of reaching light, but when he finally noticed it, and that it was for him it longed to embrace, Jack threw himself into the borderline behind himself and fell upon his bum into the snow. He jumped up at once, and frantically ran his hands along the the walls of the borderline.

"What? Let me out!" he shouted. No one did, of course, and he bravely turned to face the approaching fiend - though he had pushed himself into the corner of his small, borderline prison. The borderline did not hinder the swirling trail of light for a moment; it pushed through as though there was nothing there at all. When it was within an arms length of Jack, it stopped its steady progression and hovered there a moment, pulsing and curling about, as though regarding the panicked, slightly curious spirit before it. Then, with surprising speed, it recoiled like a posing snake and flung itself at him. Jack cried out and threw up his arms in front of his face. The act was unneeded though, for the beam of light (upon separating itself into two) simply twisted itself around his wrists, flashed as brilliantly as lightning, and then faded to nothing; all within the matter of a second.

Jack unshielded his face as he blinked rapidly, looking around himself for the mysterious light tendrils, his body language disclosing relief when he realized it was gone, until he noticed the milky white discolouration that circled his wrists like a tattooed bracelet.

"What is this?" Jack asked, examining the lightly glowing abnormality around his wrists.

"A physical sign of your new bitchhoodship" Horuto informed him without lowering his voice.

Jack's eyes snapped up from his wrists, flashing menacingly through his bangs. "In a couple of seconds, I could kick you and your second-rate wind to Canada where, if your lucky, whatever it is in the air there might just help you with your height problem. I belong to no one."

"Do you know who I am?!" Horuto roared, having heard only insult, silver eyes glowing like glinting metal as he moved into a posture used in martial arts.

Jack opened his mouth to retort, but Ryuu shouted his name and demanded he stop, and at once, Jack froze as though all of his muscles had been locked. His wide eyes swivelled to Ryuu's in horrified shock.

"You've insulted Haruto. Apologize," Ryuu commanded.

Jack's mouth opened and closed. He trembled, and Ryuu could see that the spirit had begun to sweat with concentration. It appeared as though the frost sprite was undertaking some serious inner struggle, and his look of horror only intensified. Haruto's lips curled into a spiteful grin as Jack began to clutch at his throat and then clapped his hands over his mouth as though to try and keep some horrible words from escaping there.

"Now, Jack," Ryuu barked.

"I'msorryforinsultingyou," Jack blurted, running the words together as though he couldn't get out the apology fast enough. He gasped then, one hand over his mouth, the other using the borderline wall as support, apparently to keep himself from collapsing. With huge, unseeing eyes that seemed to want to swallow up his face, Jack stared into the snow at his feet and looked very much like he might throw-up as he processed his loss of control over his speech. Ignoring Jack's new self discovery (that he was, in fact, magically held to Ryuu's commands), Ryuu bent and handed back the shriner's artifacts, sheathing his own in its covering at his hip.

"We'll let you get on with your preparations," Mizuko said cooly, slipping her hairpin into her kimono and without another word, led her guardsmen into the moon pool. They walked unflinchingly into the freezing water until the tops of their head disappeared from sight, leaving only expanding ripples upon the water's surface as a reminder of their departure.

"I imagine that you won't be letting your servant out of that borderline until I'm gone." Horuto pouted. "So, I have nothing else to stay for." With that, the wind shriner whispered something to Jack that made Jack blanch, flipped him the bird, and launched himself into the sky, where his figure was quickly lost to the clouds.

Tenjin handed Ryuu Jack's staff, wished him luck, and was whisked away on his litter. Kuro, however; stayed a while longer, and - sensing that Ryuu had made Jack his servant only because there was nothing else he could do - apologized to both Ryuu and the frost spirit for not having been a better help. But besides glancing at him quickly, Jack did not respond.

"It's fine. Not your fault," Ryuu assured Kuro solemnly, and glared at Morina accusingly.

She placed a hand on Ryuu's shoulder. "I sensed a great turmoil in the winter child - one that has stormed, and I think continues to storm, though not as it did before - in your heart as well. I knew that your destinies are to be greatly intertwined; they would have to be so to defeat Kukiko, and that is why I did not defend him the way I'm sure you thought I should have. How better it is this way, let me assure you. There is much for you to teach him, and for him to teach you."

"And I just suppose that you could not do the teaching yourself for some reason? You would be too busy fighting Kukiko, would you?"

Morina smiled with the patience of a practiced mother. "You are tired, I see. The Kodamas and I will look after the sanctuaries so that you may get some rest. Ryuu, my kitsune, my love, do get some sleep. You will need it, I'm sure." She kissed him softly on his forehead, her wooded lips rasping over his skin, but leaving a warm and lovely feeling there anyways. Then she embraced Kuro tenderly and, with a swishing noise of dry leaves scattering across the ground, she stepped into the trees and melded into the foliage, slitted skirt swishing around her ankles.

"I guess I'll leave too, then." Kuro said, watching her go with a hint of sadness in his eyes. Ryuu sensed that the farmer had feelings for Morina that went beyond friendly fondness. Ryuu didn't want to get into it.

"Yes, okay," the kitsune said quickly.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

The exchange was quick and polite. Ryuu wanted him gone. He really did need sleep, and was in no mood to carry conversation. Once Kuro had left down the path and had been swallowed up by the forest, Ryuu turned to face Jack in his borderline prison, pulled out his kaftan and swiped it through the air. The borderline vanished, and Jack fell upon his knees.

"Don't freeze me or make a storm." Ryuu told him, and tossed the spirit his staff.

Jack snatched it out of the snow and immediately bent over it while he rolled it in his hands, as though searching for cracks or other damages that could have been done to it. The thorough examination complete, Jack looked up at Ryuu and asked if he really was Ryuu's servant. Ryuu nodded.

"I'm not really cut out for servitude," was Jack's response.

"That would be my impression too. Do you want to get your memories back?"

Jack was quiet, but his knuckles whitened around his staff.

"Then we'll have to work together."

"Whatever you say, little boss man," Jack muttered darkly under his breath.

"Don't call me that," Ryuu snapped.

"Does 'short' work?"

Ryuu actually didn't have too much of a problem with being short, but the way that Jack said it, and the fact that Jack thought the jibe was something that got under his skin and so purposefully used it, ticked Ryuu off. He simply regarded the spirit with a face void of expression for a minute, and then firmly said (clicking his tongue and jerking his head at the green tiles that had been blown off and scattered around the shrine), "After your little struggle with Horuto, the roof needs fixing. See to it."

He felt a savage sense of victory when Jack's body gave a single spasm of protest as the weight of Ryuu's order fell upon him, and, somewhat soothed by having had the last word, Ryuu left Jack (still on his hands and knees in the snow) to struggle against the command by himself, frowning and shuddering as he fought against it. Eventually, Ryuu knew, the command would win out, and Jack would have to accept his new role.

In his shrine, Ryuu pulled a rice paper room divider across the floor - he had been using it to block the light from one of the windows that usually allowed the moon to shine across his face in the night, making sleep nearly impossible - his sense of victory was replaced with sullenness. He had no way of helping the frost spirit; Jack had already, clearly decided that listening to anyone was not something he did, whether what he was being told was meant to help him or not, and by the looks of things, there was certainly no way that Jack would be helping Ryuu, either. Though the two hadn't conversed much, from his many years of housing hurting souls in the sanctuaries, Ryuu saw that Jack was too used to being alone, too afraid and conflicted within himself about matters that tore constantly at him. If Ryuu did not have to focus all his efforts on Kukiko, this would not be too much of a problem. Ryuu would have given Jack, begrudgingly maybe, all the time that he needed to sort through his problems, but they did not have that time. Their new and magical bond of master and servant would only slow Ryuu down when speed was of the upmost importance.

Setting up the forest painted room divider around his bed that was tucked into the corner opposite of Jack's pile of blankets and pillows, (it was strange, for Ryuu had never before needed to use the screen in such a way; he had always had all the privacy he needed) Ryuu thought to himself that Morina, for once, was wrong; their destinies intertwining at this time could only lead to disaster. He fell upon his bed in exhaustion and told himself to sleep. During the long years of trekking amongst constant dangers, Ryuu had learned the art of sleeping on command; for sleep was a precious, fair-weather thing that could make the difference between life and death, and so, the kitsune fell asleep almost immediately, despite the whirlwind that was his dark and troubled mind.