League - Chapter 4

Authors note: Make sure to check the main fanfiction page for gameplay to story changes so you are able to follow along.

Make sure to also check out the Yokai Tamer game page for more information and to play the game yourself

~~~

The next morning Darius awoke to the sound of someone banging on their bedroom door. Not feeling Ember stir near him from the noise, he looked down. She had tucked her head just under his arm, forcing her ears to flatten against her head. She won't be able to hear this racket. Rolling his eyes, he propped himself up enough be able to talk to whoever was at the door but also not to wake her up. Pausing, almost like a secondary thought, he pulled the blanket that sat low along their waists up so it covered up to Ember's shoulder.

"What!" he yelled controlling his tone to sound rather irritable at being woken up. He didn't have long to wait for the answer.

The door flew open and a frantic Kirei burst in. He paused, looking around the room before looking at the bed. "Oh…" He went bright red before shaking his head hard. "Sorry sorry."

Again Darius rolled his eyes. "What has you banging on my door so early this morning?" 

"Choco's missing," he said before pacing back and forth frantically. "I've looked everywhere. I don't know where she could be. She didn't come to bed last night and I've been awake all night waiting for her to come back." He spoke fast, barely breathing between his sentences.

"Chocky is missing?" Darius asked clarifying he heard Kirei right. Kirei paused in his pacing to nod in response. "Why can't you use your retrocognition to find her?"

Kirei shook his head. "I'm too wound up. It won't activate to let me find her." He crossed his arms in front of him. "Besides, Choco and I haven't developed our instinct enough to use it without physical contact." He looked at Darius' hopefully. "Please. I need help finding her."

Darius sighed before gently shifting to move Ember's head out from where she had tucked it. "Ember…" She flicked her ears at him but barely moved. He gave her ear a pinch before calling again. "Ember!"

"No more Dari…" Ember purred softly. "I'm going to be too sore in the morning if we keep going." 

It was Darius' turn to go red. "It's already morning!" He watched her crack her eyes open slightly to look at him. "We need your nose again."

"I thought we agreed it doesn't come off?" she asked confused. Kirei couldn't help himself but start to silently giggle at the interaction between the two. He knew Ember took a while to be aware of what was going on when she wasn't startled awake. 

"Ember…" Darius' voice was stern with a hint of frustration seeping through. "Not a time for jokes. Chocky is missing. We need you to try and find her."

Ember tilted her head at him before she replied "Okie okie," before moving to get up. Darius quickly grabbed a hold of her and looked up at Kirei. The two tengu stared at each other before Darius pointed at the door. Kirei blushed again and darted outside before closing the door. Ember looked up at Darius confused. "I thought you wanted me to find Choco."

Darius sighed and let her go. He watched in amusement as she got up and stumbled into their ensuite. It had to be my spouse that is the only one with kitsune features… He got up and started to get himself ready for the day. Where could Chocky have gone? 

It never ceased to amaze him the transformation from the half asleep and very confused Ember to the one that came bouncing out of their ensuite. Her green eyes were wide open and bright. She stood watching him for a moment before giggling. "I don't think those match…"

Looking down, he noticed his outfit indeed didn't match. Sighing, he decided to change again. Smiling, he picked out a rather interesting outfit. "How do I look?" 

Ember looked at him up and down. "Candy demon?" He nodded. "You look very pink…" He went to change again. "Too bad pink tengu, we're going to go find Choco with you looking like that." She dragged him out the door and over to where Kirei stood waiting.

"I was worried you two might take longer," Kirei said after receiving a look from Darius. He wasn't going to comment on the overly pink look of the candy demon outfit. "This belongs to Choco," He handed Ember a white veil-like hat. "Hopefully you'll be able to find her."

Ember didn't answer and wandered off following the faint scent. The two tengu looked at each other before shrugging and following at a distance. She guided them downstairs. They continued going down past the second floor for Dynamo and Elites, the first floor member dorms, the ground floor meeting hall and dining room, all the way to the basement floor. They passed the indoor training rooms to a set of double doors. 

"The library?" Kirei asked curiously. "Why would Choco be here?" 

The three entered the library quietly. Inside were many members moving amongst the shelves looking at the books. Ember led them to an area with long tables. Immediately, Kirei dashed past her and latched himself onto Chocolatte, hugging her tightly from behind.

"Chocky…" Darius said sternly when he got closer. "Do you know how much trouble Kirei caused me this morning?"

"Sorry Dari," Chocolatte replied with a sigh. "But Master Liu asked me to learn some new skills so I could get stronger. He gave me 2 weeks to learn before he tested me on them."

"Master Liu?" Ember asked tilting her head before adding "Oh! Snowbunny! Really? Is Yukkii giving you a hand to get stronger?"

"Yes," Chocolatte said with a smile. She was a little concerned that Kirei had not yet let go of her. "Kirei?"

"That reminds me…" Darius turned on Ember who immediately shrunk back not sure what he was going to do to her now. "You skipped out on your training the other day." He grabbed her wrist. "You're going to do double today to make up for it."

Both Kirei and Chocolatte giggled watching Darius drag her away as she cried "Nuuuuuuuuu!" 

Once they had gone, Chocolatte turned to Kirei. "Sorry. I was so excited to be getting stronger that I forgot to come tell you."

"It's ok," Kirei buried his head against her neck. "Just… Don't do this to me again." Chocolatte patted his arm trying to comfort him. "I was afraid that what happened to Ember in the past happened to you. He's still out there and could come back and attack you."

"Who?" Chocolatte asked. It was the first time she had heard about Ember's past, however vaguely it was mentioned. She knew Kirei and Ember had known each other for a very long time and she knew there was an event that happened that caused quite a lot of pain in the pair of them.

"No one…" Kirei replied quietly. "You don't need to know. I'll protect you."

~~~~

Ember lay draped over one of the benches near the outdoor training arena. Her ears and tail drooped like as if they were wet as she tried to catch her breath. "Meanie…" she whispered. Darius had put her through a series of rather difficult training exercises and she was very tired and even more sore than she had been already. "I'm aching all over now instead of just only my lady bits."

He laughed at her and leaned over to pinch one of her ears playfully. "You've been lazy, wifey." She let out a huff in response that made him laugh even more. "Perhaps we need to look at your equipment again and increase the difficulty of your training."

"Weren't you going to nether today?" Ember asked trying to change the topic. She oozed off the bench like as if she was made of water and laid on the ground. She just wanted to curl up and go to sleep. 

"I'll go later," He picked her up and carried her over to centre of the training arena before setting her down on her feet. "Again." 

She looked at him with big puppy dog eyes. He smiled and waved his hand in a 'pay attention in front of you'. She rolled her eyes. He's immune to my eyes now. Sighing, she held Nether Candle in an offensive position and waited. The ground rumbled and she stared up at the monster Darius had decided for her to play with. Holy… Suzume stood looming over her with her wings outstretched ready to attack. I'm so dead!

She leapt into action, dancing and spinning, Nether Candle acting like an extension of her own body instead of an addition. She was gaining the upper hand until her phone starting to ping, distracting her.

"Focus!" Darius yelled at her when he noticed her falter. "You'll get hit otherwise."

Ember pulled her phone out with her other hand and threw it at him to get the distraction away. Darius caught it deftly and looked at what the message was that had appeared. The screen flashed red with an SOS. Flicking through, he say it was Zhillion who had sent it. Kings attacking him and Rain in Illu? Darting forward, he helped Ember get rid of the boss. She gave his a strange look. "You need to go to Illu. Zhil and Rain need assistance." He held up her phone to her with the red flashing screen. "It looks like Kings are trying their attacks again. You should be fine against them without me."

"What will you do?" she asked taking her phone from him and scrolling to the teleport button. 

"I'll go to nether," he replied as he kissed her forehead. "Call me if you need my help but I think you'll manage on your own." Ember nodded and pressed the button to teleport to Zhillion's location.

~~~

Darius flopped down on the couch. Another day of no luck trying to find upgrades for his equipment. His irritation came off him in waves. He had been to the forge with what little he had and managed to break some decent equipment. 

"Are you ok?" Ember asked him, a little timidly. She had seen him this irritable before but she wasn't sure how he would react to her. "I could help… Maybe try my technique while forging…"

"I have no luck," he replied with a sharp bite in his words that made Ember flinch a little. "It's not a matter of technique. No luck is no luck. Why put blame on self for no luck?"

"I was only asking a simple question," Ember's voice became heated. "No need to have a dummy spit at me because your luck is currently bad."

Darius looked up at her even more irritated than before. "I wasn't having a spit at you. I was just stating what I think."

"Well it felt like you were having a spit at me," Ember fired back. She could feel her anger rising in her. 

"Well… You think too much…" Darius replied. Silence spread between them. Ember bit her lip and tried to formulate the correct words to say.

"Right then…" Ember's voice wavered but remained steady. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes. "If that's what you think, I'm leaving before I say something I regret." She stalked off towards the door. Turning, she added "That hurt Darius…" Leaving the room, she slammed the door behind her. Darius sighed and leaned back against the couch. His irritation still holding him tightly in its grip.

Ember stalked down to the hotspring. Her steps became less pronounced and back to their usual light step the further she was from their bedroom. She knew that at least she needed time out before she tackled him again. She couldn't talk to him when he was in this heightened, irritable state. They would simply start snapping at each other again. Sitting down, she took her shoes and socks off and dipped her feet into the water before lying back on her tails to watch the clouds drift by overhead.

~~~~

The guild could sense something was wrong with the two. Neither were present as much as they had been during events and when they were they weren't close to each other. Sukablyet and Cav-Laoshi both decided to do some investigating. It felt strange to them that Ember and Darius both were avoiding each other.

"Momshie?" Cav-Laoshi plopped himself down next to Ember and waited until Sukablyet sat on her other side. "Did Popsie upset you? He keeps looking over here but you aren't looking back."

"Yes and no," Ember replied. "Yes he did hurt me a bit but also no because it's how he normally responds to things. Can be so blunt at times." She flopped back on her tails so that both tengu were in her line of sight. She smiled internally. 

Out of all the tengu in the guild, these two were a rare breed. Not only were they married to each other, but they were also the left-white right-black winged variety of tengu. Their temperament were always more collaborative and open than left-black right-white winged tengu. Envisioning her own tengu spouse and his left-black right-white array, she let off a mild sigh. He was protective and dominant. Though, and she would never openly admit this to anyone, she loved when he was like that with her.

"Then why are you staying away?" Sukablyet asked curiously. He had gotten use to seeing the affection between the two ever since Cav-Laoshi and him transferred from HiVN to League. It felt really strange to see the two of them apart.

"I'm doing something that he'll probably blast me for…" Ember replied with a small yawn. "Can you two keep a secret for me? Since it might take a while and I may need some help with easing Dari's worries."

"Anything Momshie!" Cav-Laoshi replied with a smile. He could sense Ember's tiredness and also her wish to tease and be playful. "Just what are you up to?"

"He got irritable because he's having the worst luck with improving his gears," Ember said with a small smile. "I just poked him at the wrong time and got told I think too much for my trouble. That did initially get me upset but I have a plan…" She quietly outlined her plan to the two tengu. She watched their expressions change from confused to bright and almost giggly. She knew she could rely on them to help her pull off this plan. "So… Going to help me out?"

League - Chapter 3

 Authors note: Make sure to check the main fanfiction page for gameplay to story changes so you are able to follow along.

Make sure to also check out the Yokai Tamer game page for more information and to play the game yourself

Please check the notes on the main page about the symbiotic relationship between kitsune and tengu. I'll be using this chapter to explore that a bit here and in future chapters.

Those who play this game with me, this is where the story will start to have a deviation from events in-game. I'll be taking inspiration from events in-game but to create a more interesting story, I'll be starting to ramp up the drama from here.

Pet: Meowball

Yukkii sat in his room watching Takoyakii play with Kirei's Meowball. He had asked them to look after it for a while since the cat had started to attack and damage furniture by scratching it to pieces. He wanted to cat-proof his room before he brought Meowball back. A soft knock at the door drew him out of his thoughts.

Takoyakii looked up. In the moment of her distraction, Meowball took the string she had been dangling in front of him and started to chew on it. Takoyakii sighed and got up to answer the door. "Darius, Ember," She said with a smile before giving a yell of surprise at the twin cuffs on Darius' wrists. "What happened?" She let them in and led them to where Yukkii sat watching them. 

"Nagi went on an impromptu journey," Ember explained softly. "He passed the leadership to Dari…"

"But I want to pass it to you, Yukkii. Ember and I can be your assist but I don't want to be leader," Darius said with a smile. Yukkii wordlessly reached out his hands and Darius took off the cuffs and passed them to him. "The room of the guild leader is yours."

Yukkii shook his head and smiled. Closing his eyes, he tapped into the magic of the guild and the building, commanding 2 identical rooms to be created. They watched as the room around them shifted becoming more spacious. Opening his eyes, he smiled before placing the single cuff back on Darius. 

"He says that because you two are co-leaders, there is no reason why the room of the guild leader and your bedrooms should be different. We don't need three rooms on this floor, only two." Takoyakii said with a slight tilt of her head. "So both rooms now look identical."

Darius shook his head but quietly accepted Yukkii's choice. Ember blinked confused at what just happened. "Did you lose your voice, Snowbunny?"

Takoyakii started laughing while Yukkii mock glared at her before silently laughing as well. "He did something to upset the Gods," Takoyakii explained as she tried to get her breath back. "So they've made him mute for a while."

"Oh…" Ember stared at Yukkii who shrugged is shoulders. "A mute guild leader. Well even if you didn't want the leadership, you wouldn't have been able to say no." Ember giggled before the others joined in with her laughter.

~~~

Ember skipped ahead of Darius after leaving Yukkii and Takoyakii's room. They had some morning tea with the pair and she was now bouncy with sugar. Darius followed wondering how to bring up the topic of their disagreement. He followed behind, not really paying attention to where they were heading. He came to an abrupt halt when he ran into her from behind.

"You know…" Ember said softly looking out over the hotsprings. "I never told you about my previous spouses before…"

Darius moved to stand next to her. "Shawn you mean?"

"No," Ember sighed. "You're my 4th spouse. I don't have the best luck when it comes to being married to tengu." He was silently listening. He didn't want to interrupt her flow. If she was going to open up to him then he didn't want to let her second guess or hesitate. "Kirei's known me ever since I met my first spouse, Assassin. He was so charming and sweet. Would always shower me with gifts. But all he wanted was a convenient playtoy. Always wanted sex. Nothing more. Didn't want to start a family. Whenever I pushed the topic, he would yell at me. Tell me that I'm not smart enough to look after a baby. That a baby with me would be just as worthless as me.  I felt trapped and couldn't see a way out. One day, he gave me his ring and said that he was going to his real spouse overseas. He couldn't handle having to train me anymore because I was a lost cause." 

Darius wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. Tears were streaming down her face. It took her a while to slowly calm down again. "My third spouse, Levi," She continued her voice slight muffled by his chest. "He was just like Assassin. Showering me with gifts and was also sweet and charming. But when something would go wrong, it was my fault. He was never to blame for any issues that happened. It was always me. It got to the stage that he started betraying me, lying about what I was like. Lying about everything. I forced a divorce with him. Kirei kept him away from me. He would follow me and stalk me, stealing items I'd find and trying to ruin my reputation with people I met. After Kirei nearly sent him to Takamagahara, he vanished. Kirei and I have been worried he might come back to try again." She sighed softly. "Kirei is more worried now that he has Choco at his side. He's worried Levi might attack her to get back at him."

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Only you and Shawn have been the only spouses I've had that haven't tried to harm me," She rested her head against his chest again. "I only divorced Shawn because his first spouse came back. I thought it was only right for them to be together because Shawn had already had a daughter with her." Her ears twitched nervously before she added. "When you spoke to me, I felt like I was talking to Levi. Being blamed for choosing the wrong thing. Not being up to his standards. I became afraid of you attacking me."

"I wouldn't harm you Emb," Darius finally replied softly. He finally understood why Kirei and her were so close. He also finally understood just how fragile she was to words and how they are spoken. "I'm blunt and to the point. I don't mince words… I never have. But I'm not attacking you or blaming you for anything."

~~~

Meanwhile, Yukkii stood looking at the bookcase. He had an idea but needed a way to implement it. I could use Choco to test it out. He looked at the series of books on kitsune skills and battle techniques that Takoyakii owned. Tako? He called in his mind. As he turned he called again, Tako? Sighing, he gave a gentle smile.

Takoyakii sat dozing on the couch behind him. Her tails curled up around her like a blanket. He walked over to their bed and picked up a light cotton blanket and placed it over her, tucking the top in around her shoulders. He turned back to the bookcase and brought down the first book of the series and sat down on the other couch to look at the layout of the material. 

How long will she sleep for? He asked. A small voice let him know about an hour or two. Nodding, he took out his phone and flicked to Chocolatte's name. Meet me in my room in about 2 hours. I have something that might help you.

Carefully, he continued to flick through the book, his idea on how to help Chocolatte and other kitsune like Chocolatte to get stronger. If this worked, he planned to transfer the idea to help strengthen the weaker tengu in the guild as well. He had a feeling that this preparation will be needed in the near future. 

I just hope my feeling is wrong…

~~~

Chocolatte looked at her phone curiously as she made her way to Yukkii and Takoyakii's room. I wonder what this is about. She hadn't told Kirei about going to meet Yukkii but she figured that because he was a guild member that there wouldn't be an issue. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door.

"Choco! Come in," Takoyakii said inviting her inside. "Yukkii was thinking that we need to get the guild stronger." She guided Chocolatte to the lounge and invited her to take a seat. "The problem being, a tengu teaching a kitsune techniques is difficult. So he wanted you to work through my book series I got from my parents. He was hoping that once you're done, you can assist him with developing a more streamline and concise way to teach new techniques and skills to the guild kitsune."

Yukkii handed her the first book in the series with a smile. Chocolatte looked at him confused before starting to giggle. "You got yourself muted again!" Takoyakii and Yukkii also joined in her giggling and Yukkii nodded with a big smile on his face. "You also…" Chocolatte's face fell. "You have Nagi's cuffs…" 

Takoyakii sighed and briefly explained to Chocolatte what happened earlier that day. She could see Chocolatte was upset to hear the news of Nagito leaving without saying a word to anyone. "Yukkii says we'll do the books in fortnightly intervals. Work through the books. Learn what you can. Ask questions to any kitsune about things you don't understand."

Chocolatte's expression changed again to excitement. "I can't wait! I need to be stronger to catch up to all of you!"

Takoyakii placed a hand on her shoulder. "There's no rush Choco. Take your time. Better to be slow and steady than rush and be weakened because of it."

Chocolatte mock saluted the two. "Yessir!"

~~~~

Settling down for the night, a certain tengu had a particularly evil plan in mind. He waited until his kitsune stopped moving and snuggled up to his side like she usually did when they went to sleep before he started talking.

"Ember…" Darius kept his voice controlled and sounded concerned.

"Hmm?" She didn't look up at him. Her head rested on his chest, eyes closed, and was listening to his heartbeat.

"Did you forget something?" A sneaky smile played on his face. 

"I don't think I did…" She sounded mildly uncertain. "No. I don't think I forgot anything. Why do you ask if I did?"

Darius wrapped his arms around her and shifted his body until he was laying on his side facing her. Her eyes snapped open and found herself laying on one of his arms instead of his chest. Once he stopped moving she looked up at him.

"Are you sure?" She could see the sneaky smile on his face. Her ears pricked up into sharp points. He knew something she didn't. 

"I'm sure," she replied wondering where he was going with this line of questioning. 

"I assure you Ember," He lowered his head and kissed her on her forehead. "You've forgotten." His hand trailed down her back and rested just above the base of her tails eliciting a squeak from her. "And I'm going to remind you so you don't ever forget again…"

League - Chapter 2

 Authors note: Make sure to check the main fanfiction page for gameplay to story changes so you are able to follow along.

Make sure to also check out the Yokai Tamer game page for more information and to play the game yourself

~~~

Darius awoke the next morning to the feeling of something warm and heavy in his lap. Looking down, he saw a familiar pair of brown fox ears. Why am I not surprised… Sitting up, he eased her off him. Stretching and glancing at the clock, he rolled his eyes before leaning down to pinch her ear and pull it back slightly. "Ember…" His voice was rough and irritable. "Wake up Ember."

"Hmm?" She uncurled and looked up at him. "Oh… You woke up." She smiled slightly before she drew back to look at him better. 

"Why didn't you wake me for dinner instead of sleeping on me?" His expression was unreadable. Ember tightened her tails around her unconsciously. She felt threatened in that moment. This tengu knew a lot about her, including a bit about her hidden past, and she became afraid of him using it against her. 

"Sleep seemed like the better option," she replied trying to sound strong. She couldn't understand it. Why was this feeling of fear rising in her? 

Darius watched her closely before becoming more irritable. "I'm not attacking you. Why are you recoiling like that?"

"It feels like you are," Ember tucked herself in behind her tails and used them as a shield. She didn't want him to see her break. "Go eat then if you're hungry."

Darius once again opened his mouth to say something but decided against it and turned to leave the room, Just before closing the door he said softly. "Perhaps we should just speak less to each other." The door closed and she listened to his footsteps walking away. 

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was afraid and hurt. She couldn't understand where this feeling was coming from. Getting up, she ran from the room and down to her old room before anyone else could see her.  She needed time out. Time to be alone. To work through why she got so afraid of him. 

~~~

Darius walked into the dining room and stared at the sight before him. This tengu… Closing his eyes, he went to turn and walk away before a hand grabbed him and dragged him into the room. "Totoy…"

Totoymola danced amongst the tables pulling people into the room as he watched them leave. It had been common knowledge that he had been slowly becoming more insane. Ever since his spouse, Pandan, left almost a year ago, his filter for things had slowly begun to diminish until it became the regular evening meal entertainment. Darius stared at the tengu as he swayed his hips and danced as if he was in a strip club.

I should have stay sleeping upstairs with Ember on my lap instead of watching this. Darius thought as he was dragged into a chair and a Totoymola gave him a cheeky wink. This tengu… Really…

Siegheart stood leaning against the wall nearby watching his friend's antics before speaking up. "You know that tengu that attacked you while you were helping the miko?"

"Yeah," Totoymola ran a finger along the table before continuing his dance, dragging others onto chairs so they could watch his performance. "He seemed to be on auto-pilot."

"He wasn't," Siegheart replied. His face remained neutral to the dancing tengu before him. "I killed him for you."

Totoymola came over and placed a hand on Siegheart's chest. "Bradass…" His voice was soft and grateful for his friend doing that for him. "I'll give you something nice." Dancing away, he blew a kiss at Siegheart before sending an Eternal Love gift via his mobile to him as well. "Bradass for life!"

Siegheart smiled slightly before continuing to watch the scene before him. "We ride together, Totoy."

Yukkii and Takoyakii stared at each other before rolling their eyes. "There's something about this Bradass thing these two have that we don't know about…" he whispered. Takoyakii nodded, uncertain how to respond to the situation before them. "It must be because neither of them have had any pewpew in a very long time."

They both watched as Totoymola focused his attentions on Darius once again, the latter looking unimpressed at being the recipient of the show this time. "I wonder if Ember knows that Totoy strips for Dari…" Takoyakii asked slightly louder so that Darius could hear her as well.

"She knows," Yukkii mimicked Takoyakii's volume. "She's already addressed it with Totoy and got a strip tease herself for her trouble." The pair laughed and Darius raised an eyebrow at the two of them before going back to looking unimpressed at Totoymola's antics.

Pet: Wood Crown

Ember sat in her room looking out the window. She watched League members going about their day. Absently, her hand pet Sushi Shiba who yipped happily at times from the attention. She didn't know how long she sat like this until Wood Crown interrupted her thoughts.

"Mistress…" The soft voice floated to her ears drawing her out of her limbo-like daze. "Mistress… You need to eat something." 

Ember shook her head. She didn't feel hungry. She felt numb and empty, a feeling that was all too familiar to her. She knew what happened now. Darius' aura had triggered her memories. She reacted in response to the memories and not him. She looked back out the window. Maybe its time…

Wood Crown sighed and floated down to sit next to Ember to keep a closer eye on her. Out of all of Ember's pets, she was the most intuitive and often would follow Ember when she went hunting. She waited, hoping that someone would come and draw Ember back out of her thoughts.

~~~~

That night, Darius laid in bed looking at his phone. Ember was once again on his mind. Her activity log on their shared guild forum told him she had not done any training that day. Sighing, he dropped his hand down and stared at the ceiling. Did I upset her that much? Shaking his head, he closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep.

After a few minutes of tossing and turning, he growled and got up again. He had heard of tengu being unable to sleep well without their spouse next to them but he didn't think it would be this bad. Stalking over to the wardrobe, he pulled on a robe and left the room. He had an educated guess as to where Ember was and he was going to move her back to their room if he had to.

Reaching the door to her old room, he paused and took a few calming breaths. The last thing he needed was to be more irritable when he spoke to her. Slowly, he opened the door. The room was dark with the light from Fire Crown being the only thing stopping the room from being pitch black. He glanced at the bed and found Ember asleep curled up against 2 pillows like how she would be positioned when sleeping next to him. 

"It took a long time to get her to sleep," A soft voice said in his ear. "Please don't move her. Sleep here with her."

Darius turned his head to find Wood Crown floating near him. "I didn't see you awake," he replied with a sigh. "Has she been here all day?"

"Yes," Wood Crown replied. She took hold of his hand and guided him to the other side of the bed. The other pets on Ember awoke as he passed. "My Mistress was triggered by her past. It's not something that can be helped until she learns to accept it."

Darius watched as the pets gently lifted Ember and moved the pillows allowing him to settle down and arrange his wings so they weren't in an awkward position before they set her back down at his side. He waited wondering if her sense of smell would wake her up, alerting her to his presence. Instead, he got a pleasant surprise. Ember purred softly in her sleep before snuggling up to his side like she usually did when they went to bed to sleep for the night. He felt the restlessness in his body settle down and he relaxed letting himself drift off to sleep.

The next morning, he opened his eyes feeling warm and comfortable. Ember had shifted in her sleep. Her back was against him and she was snuggled in again. Her tails were draped over him. He gently stroked one of her tails, enjoying the softness before his awareness of where he was smacked him hard. 

His eyes widened. The walls of the room were white, not the mauve of Ember's old room. No pets were to be seen anywhere in his line of sight. Rolling over onto his side so Ember's back was against his chest, he got a better look of the room. It looked like their bedroom… but bigger. The couch that used to sit under the window now was part of a pair and made a little corner library. A small table with 5 dining chairs sat in the centre of the room and on the table sat a shallow dish with Rumdul flowers in it.

He pinched Ember's ear and pulled it back towards him. "Ember…" he called. He didn't want to yell like Moon had but he also wanted her to wake up. Ember stirred making a little growling sound before settling again. "Ember. Wake up." Again, she stirred and flicked her ears taking it out of his grip. He pinched again, slightly harder, and pulled it back towards him. "Ember!"

"What?" she asked sleepily. She rubbed her right eye with a paw-like hand and shifted herself onto her back so she could look up at him. "Why are you in my room?"

"We aren't in your room anymore," Darius replied patiently. "I need your nose. I need to know where we are."

To his amusement, she reached up to grip her own nose as if to try and take it off to give to him. "It doesn't come off…" she replied confused. "You can't borrow my nose Dari. It's stuck to me."

He bit his lip trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the moment. "I need you to use your nose to find out where we are."

"Okie okie," Ember sniffed the air. She tilted her head and sniffed the air again. "All I smell is you." Darius flopped onto his back unsure how to respond to her now without getting frustrated. Ember's laughter caused him to shift himself back onto his side again to glare at her. "I was serious that all I could smell was you. You being so close actually floods my senses." She got up and continued to laugh. "Smile Dari. It won't kill you." Darius rolled his eyes and watched her walk around sniffing the air. "It's strange…" Ember paused at the corner library. "This place smells like our room but it isn't our room. It's larger… much larger…"

"Anything out of the ordinary that smells different?" Darius asked sitting up. His eyes kept drifting to the centre table. "Anything at all?"

"Other than those Rumdul flowers, which we didn't have in our room before…" she said trailing off and walking up to the bookcase and sniffed. "There's something here…"

Darius got up and pulled his robe around him before coming closer to her. "Something?"

"It smells like the Rumdul flowers," she replied sniffing before pulling a book out that was on guild management. "Here…" She opened the book to reveal a letter. Darius took the letter and opened it only for them to be blinded by a bright light. A soft thump could be heard before the light died down. Ember gasped and stared at Darius' wrists. 

"What!" Darius yelled staring at the twin cuffs that signified him as the Guild Leader of League. He looked at the letter still in his hand and pulled out the paper contained within. "Nagito…" he growled as he read the letter. Ember stepped lightly over to him and peeked over his arm to read the letter herself.

Darius,

I've gone on a journey. I want to see how kitsune and tengu in other countries live. I don't know if I'll be back so I place the leadership of League in your hands. I know the guild will be safe with you.

Nagito.

Ember blinked before looking around the room again and then back at Darius. "This is the room of the Guild Leader…" She stepped back from him slightly. "We were moved here by the Gods from my room because you were needed here to receive the leadership this morning," She bent down to pick up the single cuff that had fallen off Darius when the twin cuffs appeared. "I suppose," She handed him the single cuff. "Your first order of business is to elect a new co-leader."

Darius took a deep breath and sighed. "I have a better idea…"