After narrowly escaping Noboru and his almost certain fatal teasing, Niamh is off to find Miyuki somewhere in the temple pagoda. She thinks she remembers the way to the room she used earlier and after a few minutes, she finds the room! Only one problem, there is no Miyuki present. Perhaps she is already headed to the baths?
Following the scent of cleanliness, Niamh wanders about at random for a bit before finally resorting to calling out, "Miyuki?"
Alas, no reply! Surely she is in here somewhere, though. She could swear she hears splashing water somwhere.
Homing in on the splashing sounds, Niamh renews her hunt. It must be a building, after all.. it's not like anyone would baths outdoors or in a garden or something.
Following the sound works! After a couple minutes of going around corners and up a couple flights of stairs, Niamh thinks she has found the bathroom. Splashing sounds continue a bit past the rice-paper door as well as shadows cast by light within flicker across the sliding panel.
Clearing her through, Niamh calls, "Miyuki? Are you in there?" By now she's forgotten how to speak Japanese though.
Huh, no reply. Maybe she has dunked under water. The shadow-shapes certainly look thin and sort-of-female.
"Are you ignoring me?" Niamh asks, fearing that was the case. "I wasn't being inappropriate with Noboru, he just wanted me to brush his belly as part of my training."
Still no reply. Now there is singing coming from the other side of the door! She doesn't sound upset at all in her voice, at least? And yes, it does sound like Miyuki.
It's just a paper door, Niamh thinks. She must hear me. So, she tries knocking on the frame. She doesn't know if people knock to announce themselves in Japan, but it should get some attention at least.
Nope, no answer! Geeze. Surely she can hear the knocking? After all, as Niamh observed, it is a paper door.
Finally, figuring that she can't get in any more trouble.. Niamh tries to slide the door open enough to get a peek inside and see if whoever is in there has anything stuffed into their ears.
What Nimah sees beyond the door doesn't seem right at all! It looks like she's looking out into a small mountain valley. She can even smell mountain air and the must of wilderness. There's no traditional tub, but instead it looks like a steaming pond, complete with a cascading waterfall rolling down a picturesque mountainside. Miyuki is nowhere to be seen, at least for a few seconds. The young girl bursts up from the pond, her wet hair wooshing backward and dancing in what seems like perfect sunlight. She runs her hands through her hair, causing water to roll down her thin and almost snow-pale body, while her wet white tail flicks here and there lazily. Wait, what? Tail?
Niamh is somewhat used to seeing a different world, but never through a door. It was always on the other side of a cave or other underground access. She can't be certain she's seeing Miyuki even. She claimed to be human, after all!
"That must be Noboru's sister," Niamh mutters. Or else Miyuki was lying about being related to the Kitsune. But since the girl is now above the water, Niamh risks calling out again.. louder this time, given the apparent distance. "Miyuki-san?" she calls after sliding the door shut again.
"Waaaaaaaah!" comes a cry from the other side of the door and a whole lot of splashing water!
"Are you alright?" Niamh calls back after the cry. She feels silly shouting through a paper door in a shrine, just knowing that Noboru probably hears her and is laughing.
"Niamh, nanishiteru?" comes the reply from the other side. It sure sounds like Miyuki.
"I.. don't understand that question?" Niamh says. How many other English speaking girls with her accent could Miyuki confuse her for though? "It is Niamh."
There's a moment or two of silence. "Yes, that is fairly obvious," Miyuki says from behind the door. "Were you ... peeking? I heard the door..."
How could she hear the door but not hear me knocking on it? Niamh wonders. "Just a quick peek to see why you weren't answering me before," Niamh admits.
More silence. "What did you see?" comes a nervous-sounding question.
"A pond and a waterfall and a valley that I'm pretty sure is not just behind the shrine," Niamh says. "And something confusing, too."
"Kurappu," whines Miyuki from the other side. "What else?"
"Steam, coming from the pond," Niamh says. "Was that magic? Also.. uh.." There's no way to whisper and be heard, surely, but she tries it anyway, whispering, "something like a tail."
"You weren't supposed to see that!" Miyuki angrily yells from the other side! "Chikusho!"
"Well.. I'm sorry?" Niamh offers. "Is there a problem with it? You aren't a kitsune so.. I'm guessing one of Noboru's grand or great-grand-children?"
"No one is supposed to know!" Miyuki complains on the other side of the door. "Humans get weird if their priestesses turn out to be yokai. Just ... come in. We probably should talk."
Sliding the door open, Niamh steps into the valley, and immediately looks back to see if the door is attached to anything on this side.
Except Niamh steps into a rather ordinary-looking bathroom. At least, it looks a lot like the one back at the inn. Miyuki is sitting in the tub, looking ... perturbed. One of her two white ears on top of her head twitches. "Noboru is my brother," she notes a bit dryly. "I am kitsune."
Blinking, Niamh looks around. "You.. use an illusion to fool yourself of where you are?" she asks. "You're the one he gave up his tail for?"
"I would rather be outside, not stuck in this temple," Miyuki comments, sighing, "It's an illusion, but comforting. And yes, I'm the idiot he saved."
"So.. why do you choose to appear human?" Niam asks after closing the door behind her. "Is it just because you serve as the Miko?"
"Mainly, yes," Miyuki sighs and rests her chin on the tub edge. "I can hide my ears," she notes and points at her head, "And I am just a one-tail, so a dress hides that. It's easy for me to appear human."
Niamh.. looks more confused. "I wasn't doing.. I was only brushing Noboru with my brush. As part of my training, apparently," she explains. "Can you change into a normal kitsune then, or are you stuck like this because of the.. incident?"
Miyuki answers that by climbing out of the tub. Huh, her 'cuffs' are white, so to speak, just her head hair is black other than the one stripe. Her body looks frustratingly perfect in shape, curve, and proper perkiness, too. And not even a single pimple, mole, or blemish on her ... unless you consider those bichromatic eyes a blemish! She rolls her neck a little, and features shift. Things shrink while other parts grow. Whiskers sprout, then white fur ... everywhere. Well, almost everywhere; she has markings along her hips, forehead, eyes, and lips, in a translucently glowing red. And it ends with her being on all fours too; she's less than half Noboru's size like this, with only one tail, and her eyes while now slitted, are still blue and green. "This is my natural form. The human one is maintained through magic," she explains, then shakes water everywhere.
"Ack!" Niamh says, holding her hands up to try and deflect some of the spray. "I'm just.. me," Niamh says. "Even if I could change.. it's not like the Sidhe are all that different in appearance. The Koma-inu contacted me last night in a dream. It.. wasn't pleasant. They want me to free them, and I worry they might manage to get control of me given enough exposure. Are they why you don't want to help the innkeeper?"
"Would you wish to deal with creatures that tore half your face off?" Miyuki asks and sits back on her rump. "And about Noboru, I do not mind that you are fondling him. He is quite attractive, after all."
This causes Niamh to blush. "I mind!" she insists. "That is not proper courting. But.. that isn't important. I was hoping you could help me with the Koma-inu. Some sort of mental protection or.. letting me stay here for a while, until I've learned to defend my mind from them."
"Inu ... dogs, are the friends of humans, not kitsune," Miyuki notes, "It is unlikely you would be in any true danger around them. And how is it not proper courting? You enjoy someone, you be with them physically in many ways. It is only natural."
"It is more complicated with humans, I suppose," Niamh says. "They took complete control of me in the dream, and resisting at first caused me to begin freezing. Noboru said they had mastered a way of controlling humans instead of serving them."
"Plus, as you've pointed out to me, I'm yokai, not human," Niamh adds. "That is surely a loophole they could exploit."
"Maybe Noboru just wants you closer," Miyuki suggests. "It is our nature to to be round-about in our actions."
"Well.. he should be nicer if he's seducing me," Niamh says, crossing her arms. "At least not make me wonder if he's just teasing me or not."
Miyuki just sighs. "What, would you rather he ... " she starts to say, then hops her paws into Niamh's lap and leans up. Beast falls away to human, and save for the tail flicking behind her, a very naked and slight girl's lips press to Niamh's, and she kisses her rather warmly, and tingly.
Niamh goes wide-eyed at this. "Do.. did I just enter into a sacred promise with you?" she asks when the kiss ends.
Miyuki licks Nimah's lips. "Why, do you want to?" she asks in a breathy voice.
"I'm just.. confused," Niamh admits. "Why did you kiss me?"
Now Miyuki licks Niamh's cheek. "Should I not?" she asks, right before nibbling on the Irish girl's earlobe.
Niamh bites her lip, and blushes. "Do you actually find me attractive, Miyuki, or.. is it just because you're isolated because you can't be with a human and.. I don't know how things work with kitsune. I mean, I don't know if there's a stigma from what happened. Or if it's because yokai in general are attracted to me. You barely know me, so.. I just don't know what to think.."
"You think too much," Miyuki whispers in that ear, then runs her tongue all along the edge of that ear. She slides back until she's now kneeling and folds her hands in her lap. "You wear the chains of humanity's forging; binding what should be a wild soul in conformity and false ideas that call themselves morality."
"You didn't answer my question though," Niamh says, looking insecure. "I'm not used to people being this interested in me, Miyuki. I may be yokai but I don't have wild instincts so.. I just need to know that my inexperience isn't being taken advantage of. Especially because I need help. I was hoping to spend the night with you, just so I could feel secure."
"You can trust a yokai more than a human," Miyuki notes, "Even a kitsune. You are ... a curiosity. And perhaps we feel a bit sorry for you to have wandered so far from what you are, and placed yourself in chains. Do you really feel nothing at Noboru's touch or my kiss? Does it not make you feel wanting of something you cannot fully describe?"
"I'm sixteen years old," Niamh points out. "A lingering look gets me hot and bothered. I just don't know.. I don't know anything. I mean, I know the.. basic details.. but you seem to have more experience, or at least less uncertainty.." She's starting to ramble.
Miyuki ribs her forehead a little. "You short lifers lack such perspective," she mutters. "Using your calendar system, I am ... mmm, seventy-one. Physically, barely older than you."
"Noboru said you were seventeen!" Niamh gasps. "How have you pretended to be human all that time without someone noticing?"
"Physically, I am, using human scales," Miyuki notes, "It's not a lie. And I haven't had a human form that long. Kitsune aren't born with the ability, it only comes with age."
"It is.. a misdirection," Niamh points out, then sighs and almost bangs her head back against the door before remembering that it's made of paper. "Is the bath still hot?" she asks instead.
"I'm sorry," Miyuki says, "Most humans are not very accepting of yokai, so some of us walk among them in secret. And yes, the bath is still hot."
Standing, Niamh undoes the tie holding her ponytail, and then starts unbuttoning her shirt. "And.. you can make the valley come back, right?" she asks.
Miyuki stands up and holds up a finger, then closes her eyes for a moment. She draws a finger to her lips and breathes out, her breath glowing and visible as it wraps about her finger. Her wrist rolls as does her tail .. and in tandem she 'paints' the space around them. Paper walls disappear into shimmering mountains, mists, and sunshine. Tubs become ponds, at least in appearance, and grass can be 'felt' underfoot. Of course the room is there behind the illusion, but for the moment it seems real enough.
Niamh wiggles her bare toes in the grass (she left her boots outside of the shrine, of course) before shedding the rest of her clothes. "Is this from a real place?" she asks as she heads for the pond.
"A place deep in the mountains, yes," Miyuki notes. "What are you doing...?"
"I interrupted your bath," Niamh says, as she settles into the water. "You're.. like a Sidhe, you know? The cat-slit eyes and glamour, even down to the flawless skin." Niamh is not flawless, her human disguise being much more realistic.
Miyuki rolls her eyes a little, then goes back into the pool herself, even if it is just a tub in actuality. "I'm a kitsune, the heralds are my parents, and that nosy over-protective lazy-butt Noboru is my brother. And I was there when Comomodore Perry came; I saw his ships firsthand, and heard his threats. It was then we decided to learn your language to be better able to deal with ... a brutish people."
"Humans are human," Niamh claims, closing her eyes to enjoy the hot water and sense of being outdoors (or being fooled into thinking she's outdoors). "If it had been your fleet arriving at a smaller nation, would you have done things any different.. or would you have been worse?"
"The question is silly; kitsune do not have fleets," Miyuki notes.
Niamh opens one eye, and says, "If it had been the British fleet, you'd have a governor instead of an Emperor now. Japan was lucky it was the Americans. It's scary how much of the world the island next to mine controls.. and they're not any bigger than Japan. Probably smaller. And there's Denmark, which is even smaller but controls a chunk of another continent, a few of its neighbors and.. I think small nations are compensating for being small when they become conquerors."
"Perhaps. The yokai of this land would not allow subjugation," Miyuki comments as she settles back into the water up to her chin.
"The Tuatha were practically gods, but they still retreated," Niamh says a bit bitterly. She raises a wet arm and gestures to the illusion, saying, "This is how they live now. In worlds of their own making, conjuring up food and drink from memory and drifting further and further from the world. Even their monsters have mostly joined them now. I'm sure even the kitsune will grow tired of dealing with it all and abandon the mortals for better havens."
"Perhaps. But, not yet," Miyuki says, "Right now we just hide among them and guide as necessary. For the most part, at least." There's a pause, then she asks, "Are you upset with me?"
"For lying to me?" Niamh asks. "You had your reasons. I shouldn't be upset with kitsune for things like that."
"Are you going to tell anyone?" Miyuki asks.
The girl snorts at the suggestion. "Why should I tell anyone? I have enough to worry about without making trouble for someone else."
Miyuki slides over, then into Niamh's lap ... and drapes her arms over her shoulders. "Then I suppose I should tell you one more small thing," the kitsune admits and leans in until she's pressed up against Niamh's chest. There's another lick, along Niamh's jaw, then along one of her ear's again. "I'm in heat this week," she murmurs.
"I figured there had to be some reason you didn't seem too upset about me seeing your tail," Niamh notes with a grin. "And I do know a few tricks.. well, I doubt it's quite the same as it is for humans, but.. does this mean you'll let me sleep over?" she asks.
Miyuki makes a sort of growling noise and nip-bites Niamh's neck. "I am not sure there will be much sleeping if you stay," she says in an all too sultry voice, then pauses to lick the place she just nipped. "But you are welcome to stay."
The red-head makes a squeaking noise at the nip.. which probably wasn't the best response. Sounding like a mouse to a fox could be bad! "Well.. uh.. I didn't bring my ceremonial phallus but.." she mutters while blushing. "What would you have done if I hadn't learned you were a kitsune?" she asks to try and gain some control of things.
"Well, you could have stayed, of course. But, I could not have given in to the urges of the time so easily," Miyuki murmurs, then starts suckling on Niamh's neck. Her hands start er, getting explore-y, too.
Niamh gets even redder as a result. "And.. if I hadn't promised to keep your secret, would you have devoured me?" she asks, uncertain of what to do with her own hands.. so she scratches behind Miyuki's fox-ears.
"Oh, I would have devoured you, in a way, and made you my slave," Miyuki claims as if that were the perfectly normal thing to do. She draws up until she's nose to nose with Niamh. My, does she have animalistic eyes right now. Those ears end up flick-flicking some now, too. She leans back and my, does she have sharp-looking teeth in that smile.
"So.. kitsune really can possess women?" Niamh asks wide-eyed. My what big teeth you have, Grandma, she thinks.
"Of course, but only nogitsune do that. The celestials just keep humans as ... pets, sometimes," Miyuki claims and eaches up to trace a fingertip along Niamh's lower lip. "But alas, I cannot do that; Noboru has already claimed that right of you."
"Wait.. what?" Niamh asks, nearly biting Miyuki's finger. "He can't keep me as a pet!" she protests.
"Should have thought of that before you agreed to it," Miyuki remarks as she quickly draws her hand back and covers her mouth while she giggles.
"I agreed that I'd owe him a favor," Niamh insists, and reaches down to give Miyuki's tail a pinch for giggling about it. "He still has to teach me useful things first!"
Miyuki's tail actually snake-coils around that pinching hand! "Noooo, that was your first agreement. You made another one a little bit ago ... and you were brushing him intimately," she points out.
"It was just brushing," Niamh insists. "And he tricked me the first time! I didn't agree, he just kissed me and said it was binding." The girl then pinches harder to see if the tail will release her. "You are both very wicked, you know!"
Miyuki pulls down her lower eyelid and sticks out her tongue. "Kitsune," she reminds, "It goes without saying. But really, we are playful. You have not seen wicked." Her tail does eventually uncoil, at least.
"So I don't really have to become your brother's pet then?" Niamh asks, turning her head so she can give Miyuki a side-long look.
"You already are, so it's a moot point," Miyuki giggles again. "Look at it this way; it means lower yokai will think twice before messing with you."
"It's their third thought that gives me issue," Niamh says, and tries to wrestle Miyuki around to be under her. "You'll tell me how to get an advantage over Noboru though, won't you?" she asks.
Somehow, Miyuki manages to squirm just so that Niamh ends up rubbing the kitsune in delicate places, which makes her sigh in delight. "Why would I do that? I have to live with him," she points out as she now has more open range to, well, grope the human. She also starts licking the back of Niamh's neck.
Niamh keeps trying to get into a dominant position. "Because you're his little sister and it's your duty to torment him," she suggests. "And because you wouldn't want your new friend to be completely at his mercy," she adds, sounding hopeful.
"Ah, but then he would share you with me," Miyuki growls into the back of Niamh's neck. My, the kitsune has some rather sharp claws right now too, it seems, and they're tracing up Niamh's belly. "It it really so bad to belong to a kitsune?"
"Well.. would you let yourself belong to a fairy?" Niamh asks, and since she isn't getting very far trying to physically overpower the fox, she grabs for one of her hands to try and speak her language at least.
"That would be silly; a kitsune belonging to a fairy?" Miyuki claims. She's distracted enough that getting hold of a hand is pretty simple for Niamh, at least. Her hand is a bit, er, fuzzy at this point. Then again, most of Miyuki is starting to get a bit fuzzy at this point.
Here goes nothing, Niamh thinks, and tries to use her language-kenning trick on Miyuki while she's still mostly human.
Given Miyuki is terribly distracted right now, there's no real resistence, or notice, from her as Niamh tries to pick her language out of her head.
"Are you starting to lose control of your form, Miyuki-kun?" Niamh asks, once she gets her tongue reset for Japanese. "Should I ask you for a favor in exchange for easing your physical needs?"
Hearing her own language causes Miyuki to blink, then she looks at her hand and glurks! She starts flailing in the water, which sends it everywhere, and send Niamh under water for a moment too. When she surfaces, miyuki is half out of the water, draped, and sputtering. "Trying to maintain too much," she whines, now in a rather-odd-looking almost half-form, which leaves her with a lot of matted down wet fluff, a small muzzle, whiskers, and sharp teeth. "And that was a mean trick."
"It was a fairy trick, and thus lesser than a kitsune trick, isn't it?" Niamh asks, wading towards Miyuki and wiggling her fingers. "And I only want a trivial favor, really," she claims.
"What?" Miyuki inquires, eyes narrowed. At least she knows better to find out things before agreeing to them.
"If spirits can turn from protective to dangerous, there must be a ritual to turn them back," Niamh says while reaching for Miyuki's fuzzy cheek. "I can feel the word.. chinkon. The calming of the spirits. You can teach me, can't you?"
Miyuki actually leans back, eying the human. "There are such rituals, but for it to be effective, you have to have equal spirit power to the one you are trying to calm. To use it otherwise opens yourself to possession," the tired kitsune warns. "You wouldn't be able to use it against those bound at the inn."
"Not with the power I have now, no," Niamh admits. "I might be able to get help.. but without the ritual it would not matter. But if the Koma-inu can be made tame again, while remaining bound, it would be better for everyone. Would they not feel ashamed of what they had done then?"
"Don't ask me to understand what goes on in the mind of those ... dogs," Miyuki growls softly. "But yes, I can teach you, but it won't be easy, it will take a lot of practice, and even once you can do it, you won't be strong enough to calm those ... things, alone."
"If I can manage the ritual, then I will worry about getting the help I will need," Niamh promises. "Won't learning it keep me out of trouble though?" She doesn't try to reach farther when Miyuki leans back, but still keeps her hand out in invitation.
"I will consider it," Miyuki notes as she pulls herself out of the faux-pool. "Also, I cannot maintain this ... " she says and gestures to the room, "Much longer as shown by, the failure of my shift. I am a one-tail, by power is very limited and maintaining too much is wearying."
"Ah, I did not mean to tax you," Niamh apologizes. "The illusion is pretty, but you need not maintain it for me."
"It is more casting it twice, while maintaining being human, Miyuki notes, "And having certain distractions. It impedes my natural recovery of Inari's grace." Her form ripples and contorts, and back to a white fox with red markings she goes. "There, I can maintain it for the remainder of your bath," she intones, "And as a bonus to you, I cannot so readily, well, try to seduce you."
"But you're so much more cuddly now," Niamh says, and starts climbing from the 'pool'. "I did not need a full bath, it just seemed a way to be more comfortable with one another. I still have to retrieve my brush from Noboru, and inform my parents that I will be staying with you to learn the ritual."
"I can have a room ready for you in a few hours," Miyuki notes as she rests her chin on her forelegs. "There is nothing luxurious here, but it will be serviceable. Also, do not delude yourself, you cannot learn a ritual effectively in one night."
Niamh laughs, and says, "I assumed I would be staying with you in your room for the week, and learning from you when I could?"
"And you claim you're not a kitsune's pet. Already moving into their den to serve them," Miyuki teases. "Noboru might expect you to sleep with him."
"He sleeps outdoors, and not even in the forest," Niamh claims. "Or does he have a room in the compound as well?"
"He sleeps where he chooses to. But yes, he does have a room here he uses now and then," Miyuki notes.
"He isn't the one in heat though at the moment," Niamh points out, and wrings out her hair. "He has to try harder to seduce me still."
"He has not tried yet," Miyuki comments, ears flicking. "If he had, well ... you would no longer be a proper sacrifice for a dragon."
"You have a lot of confidence in your brother.. or not much in my willpower," Niamh retorts. Then she looks to Miyuki and asks, "Can you do his trick with water? It would make drying off much easier."
"My brother is a four-tail; his powers are considerable. So, yes, I do have faith in him; he could make you submit to anything he wanted, if he so desired to push it. But, he's not the sort to do that to someone. It's much less fun of a hunt to do that, as he puts it," Miyuki comments and flicks her tail this way and that. "As for water trick, which do you speak of? He knows many."
"He was able to make it stop and reverse when I tries to splash him," Niamh says, ".. when he walked in on me during my bath. I thought it could be used to remove the water from skin and hair as well."
"Ah, that one. No, I cannot perform that," Miyuki apologizes.
"Ah, and I doubt he'd do it for me if I walked out to him like this," Niamh notes with a sigh. "You have towels though, I hope?"
Miyuki's tail makes a dismissive flick and the landscape around them melts, the room returning to a more basic bathing chamber, complete with its large tub and a pile of neatly folded towels. "Or would you prefer that I lick you dry?" the fox-creature asks.
"I'd think you'd prefer the reverse, wouldn't you?" Niamh asks impishly, and takes one of the towels. "Do kitsune have dry tongues? I've already been licked by an Akaname.. I don't know if I've managed to scrub off all of its saliva yet."
Miyuki manages to smirk, which is a bit disturbing for a fox. "I'd prefer it if you weren't so stubborn and would simply mate with me," she says a bit dryly, "But I will cope, I am used to this. Thankfully no other kitsune clans are near at this time of year; otherwise suitors would come."
"I have to maintain some semblance of virtue, or it would not be as fulfilling now would it?" Niamh counters. "Plus.. I don't know how to yet. Should I ask Noboru for pointers? If there is a tree you like here at the shrine, I could ask to borrow its phallus.."
Miyuki just drapes her paw over her eyes. "I would rather you not do any of those. Just ... forget about it," she says with a sigh.
"Well, if you can stay in human form I have some idea of what would feel good at least," Niamh says as she towels off.
"Don't you have things to go do?" Miyuki reminds. "I need some rest."
"Yes, I have to get past your brother," Niamh says and winks. Then she dresses again, but doesn't bother tying her hair back. "You should try some of the chocolate tonight."
"Good luck. Noboru is a true kitsune," Miyuki warns. "And you are his current prey, and pet."
"I've known pets that managed to train their owners," Niamh says. "But I will take all the luck I can get!" At that, she leaves the bath, and tries to find her way back to where she left her boots.
A quick walk through the complex and Niamh finds herself back out in the temple proper. Across the way, Nimah can still see Noboru lounging on top of the last torii gate, legs and tails draping down around the central cross-beam.
Carrying her boots, Niamh heads towards the main gate, and also looks around for her hair-brush in case Noboru left it on the ground.
Nimah spots it, it's dangling from one of his tails. How he's holding onto it is a bit of a mystery, though.
"Hey.." she calls up to the kitsune. "You're going to give that back to me, aren't you?"
"Come a little closer, and maybe I will," Noboru says as one eye opens. My, does his smile look ... suspicious.
Niamh takes a few steps closer, and says, "Miyuki thinks I'm your 'current prey and pet,' if you can believe it!" she calls up to Noboru.
There's a blur of while fur and before Niamh can blink, she's pounced upon by Noboru. Soon, she's on her back, though somehow it didn't hurt at all. "She would be correct," the fox coos, his nose touching against hers. "You are a fun chase."
After blinking a few times as she gets her bearings, Niamh insists, "But I'm not your pet. I'm going to be staying at the shrine for.. about a week." She tries to push Noboru off at least. "Miyuki's going to teach me some things. Like you are supposed to do."
Wow, Noboru is heavy when he wants to be it seems. He also licks her nose. "You are too," he insists, then dips down and lip-licks her lower lip. The kitsune then presents her brush by bringing one of his brushes around with it in its grasp. "I fully intend to teach you things; I like my pets to be safe," he adds. In truth, his tone is fairly joking .... most likely. "Or is it more you wish to be Miyuki's pet, hmm? Given its her moon-cycle..."
"What is it with you two and this 'human pet' thing?" Niamh asks, a bit worriedly. She also tries to reach her brush. "I'm helping her with that, and she's going to teach me the chinkon ritual. She mentioned that you have a room too. I was beginning to think you slept on the torii all the time.."
Noboru relinquishes the brush. "Because it makes you blush, and generate all sorts of interesting scents," the kitsune points out. "Part of you finds it exciting, I suspect."
"Well.." and here Niamh can only blush and clutch her brush like a talisman. "So.. are you going to let me up? Miyuki says you haven't been trying to get me yet."
There's a shimmer, then a mostly human Noboru is carrying her in his arms ... and is now taking her down the temple stairway. "Do you want me to try?" he asks breathily in her left ear.
"You have to teach me something first," Niamh says, and immediately wonders why she agreed to that much already.
"Oh, of course. I am a fox of my word," Noboru claims; granted what a fox and his word is worth may be questionable. Down he goes, and soon he's setting Niamh back on her feet at the bottom of the staircase. "I will teach you how to hide your nature when you return," he notes.
"Thank you!" Niamh says, gives Noboru a peck on the cheek before heading down the road to the inn. She doesn't know if it'll drive him crazy, but it always worked on the boy who took care of the horses.
The reponse from behind her is a playful sort of predatory growl. But of course if she looks, he won't be there. Like every other time through town, people gesture at her and talk amongst themselves. Those are the ruder people, the polite ones just glare.
"Barbarians," Niamh mutters under her breath, but doesn't change her pace. Maybe she'll be able to hide her presence from them too. She should have recharged her understanding of Japanese before leaving Noboru.
Within half an hour, she's back at the Inn. It looks as it did earlier this morning, quiet, unassuming. From what little she can hear from the front, her parents might be out back in the garden.
Leaving her boots in the foyer, Niamh heads for the garden. She didn't get a chance to tell them about the hidden stairs.
Nothing accosts her through the inn, and soon she's stepping out into one of the wooden walkways in the garden. Her mother is sitting at the far end, marvelling at the ornate and deliberate arrangement of plants and stonework. Her father is once again making notes and taking measurements.
"Have I got stuff to tell you!" Niamh announces, and looks to where she thinks the stairs are supposed to be, expecting to find a tree.
Sure enough, there's a huge tree where she dreamt some stairs were. "Please tell me you did not cause a riot in town, or marry the mayor's son," Flynn comments absently. "Or that you have not offended any local Gods."
Sitting down with her back to the tree, Niamh says, "No, but last night.." She tells them about the realistic nightmare and the Koma-inu. Also that Noboru 'confirmed' that they had learned to control people like puppets. "They want me to free them of course, so.. I asked if I could stay at the Midori shrine with Miyuki for awhile. She's going to teach me the purification ritual.. and I'll also be learning how to keep these yokai from accosting me all the time and how to keep them out of my head."
Flynn puts his pencil in the center of his notebook and closes it. "And you trust what this fox creature tells you?" he asks. "I did some research on those spirits. According to local legend, they are notorious tricksters and trouble-makers. Granted those that serve a shrine tend to be better, but they're still very impish in their nature. Perhaps he just intends to steal you away."
"What he might intend still has to contend with what I want," Niamh says. "And I want a way to protect myself. Even if I learn the ritual, I still need the forest to back me up, and I can't even set foot in it as I am. I can't bear to have these things getting into my dreams, father. It was horrible!"
"Besides, Miyuki can help me deal with the kitsune," she adds.
"How? She is just a young priestess. I doubt she can contend with a kitsune," Flynn points out as he gestures with his notebook.
"They both serve the shrine, and he has to protect her.. so.." Niamh says. "I mean, he doesn't molest her. So she must have a defense against him, right? There are the heralds too. And.. that's all beside the point. I can't stay here at night, and if I don't learn the purification ritual there isn't much hope of dealing with these spirit-dog-guardians. I still need to get the wards for the trees anyway."
"I don't like this," Flynn remarks as his eyes seem to bore into Niamh. "Lass, you're still young and very inexperienced, and that shrine is crawling with spirits. Granted, so is this place, but at least here I can keep watch over you. Have they even agreed to allow you to stay there? Do they have room?"
"Miyuki agreed," Niamh says. "I was going to stay in her room for safety, but I could have my own too."
"What will you do for food?" Flynn asks next. "And clothing? And washing of clothing? And paying tribute to the shrine?"
"I was going to bring my own clothes," Niamh says. "I can wash them myself! And I can do chores for food. Or you could give me money to buy food. I haven't been asked for tribute yet."
"You do not have any shrine-appropriate clothing," Flynn points out. "As for money, we already pre-paid for food here as part of the deal with the innkeeper. We cannot afford to pay for food elsewhere right now."
"Well.. I can come back to eat if I need to?" Niamh suggests. "And I have my ceremonial tabard. That should be shrine appropriate. It's not like I'm serving there."
"That you know of. They might try to conscript you," Flynn notes. "Kitsune, remember? The tabbard is not shrine-appropriate here."
"Mom could check up on me and bring me lunch," Niamh says. "I think you're just looking for excuses now, father. You need to trust me sometime, and this is probably the only way to fix things for Mr. Tanaka."
Flynn rubs his forehead. "You're a child, lass. My little girl. What if some strange person comes after your virtue? Who would protect you?" he asks.
Niamh just gives him a blank stare for a moment. "Everyone here thinks I'm a monster or something," she points out. "And I've got my sickle. Nobody is going to come after me at a shrine guarded by a kitsune. I'm not a little girl anymore."
"What if the kitsune comes after you? I can smell fox on you already," Flynn points out and puts his hands on his hips.
"Well, if he came after me here what could we do about it?" Niamh asks, a bit testily. "I have a better chance at the shrine. Where I can keep an eye on him. And the Koma-inu will drive me crazy if I stay, or figure out a way to take control of me."
"And the scent is to keep lesser Yokai from bothering me, supposedly," Niamh mutters.
"I think you're being melodramatic about the inu spirits," Flynn grumbles. "But ... if you promise to check in every day, I suppose I can allow you to stay at the shrine."
"The stairs down to the sub-sub-basement are under this tree," Niamh points out. "So I'll be back with the paper blessings for it. And you should research them. See if you can find anything about fox-hunts and controlling people. The shrine was abandoned, and they're probably why."
"Just ... do not do anything rash, or stupid, lass. Promise me," Flynn insists. "If that kitsune asks you to promise him something, refuse!"
"I made him promise me to teach me what I need, but I won't make any promises," Niamh says. "I can handle myself now that I know what to better expect."
"What are you giving in trade for him to teach you?" Flynn inquires.
"I brush him," Niamh claims. Then holds up her hairbrush full of white fur.
"And that is all?" Flynn asks, suspicious.
"It's enough," Niamh claims. "He's got sixteen feet of tail!"
"That is a lot of tail," Flynn has to concede. He then pauses and asks, "Lass, have you been flirting with him?"
"I.. don't know?" Niamh admits. "We never really covered how to do that, you know. You didn't even let me talk to the sailors."
Flynn rubs his face now. "Just ... go before I change my mind on this," he mutters. Turning to Comyna he says, "You just had to have a daughter, and now her virtues are at risk!"
Niamh hops up and hurries to her room before anything more awkward can be said. She grabs her case with her ritual stuff, shrine-appropriate or not, and starts making a bundle with some clothes and her nightgown.
"Stop being silly," Comyna calls back, which Niamh can hear from where she is. "Her dryad friends took care of those virtues long ago." There's this pause, then "WHAT?!?"
Yup, time to go, Niamh thinks, tying up her bundle and escaping while she can. "Now to get Noboru to start training me."
"Niamh! Get back here! What is this about your virtues stolen by plants?!" the young girl can hear as she hurries out the front door. Now, does she go back, or pretend she didn't hear anything and continue on?
"I have no idea what he means by virtues anyway," Niamh says as she hurries along.
So, back through town she goes. Thankfully this time there is no pointing and muttering about her. So, in fifteen minutes or so, she's standing at the base of the stairway, lookup up towards what might be possible doom.
"This will work out," Niamh tells herself, and marches up the stairs. Why does Noboru only carry her down them instead of up? She'll have to educate him on chivalry.
Something is off when she reaches the top of the stairs; Noboru isn't there. The top of the torii gate is quite fox-free.
Considering the possibility of an ambush, Niamh steps cautiously. She needs to drop her things off with Miyuki anyway.
No ambush, no pouncing. Niamh is walking across the courtyard with disturbing ease.
"Maybe he's preparing for my lesson," Niamh says, and pauses to take her boots off before entering the residential part of the shrine. "Miyuki?" she calls out.
"Temple proper," comes Miyuki's reply from elsewhere in the temple. So, probably the antichamber near the room that she met the heralds in.
Leaving her bundle with her shoes, Niamh heads for the antechamber.
It takes a bit, but eventually Niamh finds it, and what may be certain doom. Within the antechamber, both Miyuki and Noboru wait, with Miyuki standing three paces behind and to his left. Her hands are folded, head bowed, and she even has her tail and ears out. So does Nobouro, only he's not looking down, he's looking at Nimah with the sort of predatory look a fox might give to a chicken. He gestures to the small pile of white and red clothes on the floor, a priestess' robes, then intones, "Strip, then dress in these and we will begin."
"And my father was worried I wouldn't have anything 'shrine appropriate' to wear," Niamh says and checks that the clothes aren't too complicated to get into before she starts shedding her clothes. "So.. do I need to bring my own food?" she remembers to ask while she changes..