League - Chapter 7

 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.

Also this chapter may have scenes that trigger PTSD. Read at your own risk.

~~~

Noise. 

That was all Ember could hear. The sound of metal against metal. The grating noise of metal against tile and concrete. Cries of pain. Warcries. Victorious cries.

She opened her eyes slightly to take in her surroundings. She was in the air. She could make out her guild fighting amongst the swarm of kitsune and tengu. Lowering her eyes she looking directly below her.

Darius and Kirei danced in battle against Riggles and Gabriel. She watched through hooded eyes and noticed that pair had the upper hand. Knowing she couldn’t do anything, she took stock of how she was feeling. Her arms tingled from her brief movement after having long since gone numb. Her body felt heavy like she had lost any ability to move. Her tails felt like dead weight. She couldn’t lift them.

She sighed and watched the battle going on around her. She watched Moon and Talon tag teaming Xyz, their swords creating more cuts than Xyz could. Past them, Chocolatte and Skye we’re keeping Mali from aiding Xyz.

Everywhere she looked, League members worked together to beat Rogue into submission. Her eyes felt heavy again. Something was bleeding still. She could feel it. 

She lowered her head and met Darius' eyes. She blinked at him before closing her eyes again and let herself drift away.

~~~

“How long can you hold out?” Moon taunted Xyz. The odds were in their favour. All of the strong auras from League tied up the strongest auras in Rogue. The small number remaining were easily pulled into 2v1 battles.

“As long as I can,” Xyz spat back before being knocked by a wave of water from Talon’s shikigami. 

“Your guild are going to rue the day that you decided to attack our guild leader!” Talon cried sending his shikigami to try and drown her with a pillar of water. “League will always stand united against bullies like you.”

“And no matter how weak you think we are,” Moon’s sword cut arcs of damage into Xyz making her fall to one knee. “United we are stronger than all of you!” 

Xyz fell to the floor unmoving. Due to Gabriel’s strange ability she was unable to spawn away from the battle either. Moon and Talon smiled at each other before splitting up to help the others. Moon paused to take a look around the room. Everywhere she looked, Rogue were falling to the ever-increasing numbers of their guild attacking them. 

Spotting Yukkii and Takoyakii were now free, she called out to them. “Help Kirei and Dari!” Yukkii gave her a thumbs up while Takoyakii nodded and together they darted towards the tengu. Turning, she darted off to find another group to provide aid too.

~~~

“You’re going down!” Yukkii’s sword lodged into Gabriel’s shoulder leaving a deep cut. “You chose the wrong guild to attack!”

“Ember!” Takoyakii called up to the hanging yellow clad kitsune. “Ember! Your shiki would be able to be summoned to assist us!”

“It looks like she’s still passed out,” Gabriel taunted parrying their swords. “Pity. I’m sure Riggles would love to touch her soft body again.”

“I hope for your guild that she hasn’t been touched like that,” Kirei’s voice was dark. “Because there will be no where that you and Riggles will be able to hide from Darius and the rest of League.” He spun his sword in his wrist so the blade ran parallel to his arm. “You won’t win.”

“We shall see,” Gabriel replied with renewed vigour. “You’re all talk so we shall see.”

~~~

How long…? Ember awoke again to the sound of battle. How long had she been asleep? She looked around the room and looked confused. The battle continued to rage but something was different. The energy in the room was anger. Pure seething rage.

She looked around trying to pinpoint why. The energy wasn’t anger but protection before. Why anger now?

She looked around. Darius and Kirei were being assisted by Yukkii and Takoyakii now. Everywhere, League members looked like they had the upper hand against Rogue. She smiled slightly before looking down again at Darius and Kirei.

Maybe I can help. She shifted her wrists trying to rub the bracelets together. My shiki… help them…

The movement shot pain to reverberate across her shoulders and down her back. Ember bit her lip concentrating on bringing her shiki forth. Naruto was the first to appear. The water shiki nodded and flowed down to assist the two. 

Ember gave the silent order to all assist before darkness once again overtook her.

~~~

Complete and utter devastation. Members of Rogue laid scattered all over their guild station. With the battle over, Kirei and Siegheart were looking around trying to find a way to get Ember down.

Yukkii and Darius looked up at her. Their minds unable to comprehend how or why Rogue could stoop to this level. The amount of damage that they could see was too much for one kitsune to handle. She was going to need intense therapy and healing. Yukkii was glad the miko in the infirmary had upgraded everything recently.

“Alright!” Kirei called out. “I don’t know how fast she will come down but please catch her so she doesn’t get more injured with the fall.” Using his sword, he broke the lock holding the rigging in place.

Many hands caught Ember and eased her to the floor. Darius untied her wrists and held her close to him. He didn't want to see her like this. This was more pain on to of what she already had. Kirei placed a hand on his shoulder and wordlessly offered out a hand. Darius let Kirei pick Ember up and carry her.

As they all made their way out of the Rogue headquarters, Kirei felt Ember shift slightly in his arms. “Ember… It’s ok. I have you.”

“Kirei…” she whispered. He felt her words were more an out breath rather than actually using her voice.

“I’m taking you back home so you can heal better,” he said softly. “You're the worst hurt.” Ember fell into a silent slumber as they continued on their way out of Rogue.

~~~~

The 2 miko manning the infirmary attended to Ember. Kirei eased her down before grabbing the first aid kit and a few other supplies for the smaller injuries the rest of League were sporting from their battle.

“Kirei…” he paused and looked back at Ember, smiling that she was awake again. “Can you make sure Dari is ok?”

“Will do,” Kirei gently ruffled her hair, mildly amused that she was more worried about her spouse than herself. “You focus on getting better.”

“Now,” Vampira made shooing motions at Kirei, who laughed before leaving with all his supplies in hand. “Ember I’m going to try to remove your dress before attending to your wounds.” Ember nodded and waited while everything was taken off. She winced and cried where her clothes were stuck to her skin. Her cry caused Kirei to poke his head back in. “Kirei…” Vampira pointed back to the door once all of Ember’s clothes had been thrown into a bucket of boiling water. They hoped they could salvage and repair them.

“I know,” He walked back out the door and closed it behind him. 

~~~~

Darius sighed as he worked on cleaning Ember’s tails while she slept. Vampira set him to clean them after he ducked his head in to check in on her. He only wanted to check in… not be given a task to do. 

Wrong place at the wrong time… he sighed. He did like the feel of his spouse’s tail so it wasn’t a huge loss. His process was slow and methodical. Slowly bringing each of her nine tails back to their soft white glory that all kitsune possessed.

“You know…” Ember’s voice startled him. “I should get you to brush my tails more often. It feels really good.”

“Oh really?,” he replied with a wry smile. “How long have you been awake?” 

“Ever since you started on the second one,” She purred in reply enjoying the gentle feeling of her heavy tails becoming lighter and free of dirt and blood.

“I’m on the fifth one now,” He was exasperated with her. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“Enjoying it too much?” Ember’s purr sounded amused and happy. “You’re frustrated with me more than what you’re letting on. What’s wrong?”

“Why did you go out?” Darius couldn’t understand her motives. “I know you're strong but you usually time when you go out better than that.”

“You remember the fight we had?" He nodded and motioned for her to continue. "I wanted to surprise you by creating the stronger gears you need.” She sighed softly. 

He gave her a kiss on her forehead before continuing with her tails. “So you hunting materials is how you got caught by Riggles and Gabriel,” Darius replied filling in the gaps.

Ember’s purr intensified when Darius started on a new tail. The base of her tails were a sensitive spot and his gentle stroking sent shivers down her spine. “Dari… how many more need cleaning?”

Darius laughed at the slightly sultry huskiness in her voice. He was tempted to continue to tease her but she wouldn’t be able to do much but be frustrated at him. He smiled to himself placing the note to tease her more after she was better in the back of his mind.

“I have another two to go after this one,” He watched her shiver again as he continued to work at the base before moving further down her tail. “Don’t worry Emb… I won’t do anything until you’re better…”

League - Chapter 6

 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

Also this chapter may have scenes that trigger PTSD. Read at your own risk.

~~~

Darius flopped back onto the couch in his room. There was a dull ache now all over his body which seemingly appeared for not reason. He knew it something to do with Ember. It wasn't simply her avoiding him now. Something happened to her. "What do I do now?" Ever since reading the book and talking to Takoyakii and Yukkii, he had been trying to communicate with his instincts.

Wait… It told him. I can feel her instinct calling to me. It says you need to wait. You're going to receive a way to find her soon.

Darius sighed and, about to reply sarcastically to his contradictory instinct, was interrupted by his phone letting off a series of pings. He scrolled through his phone and came to an unknown number. Ever wondered what would happen if part of your soul had been taken away? He read the message confused. Swiping right, he looked at the next message. What would you do if part of your soul was sent to Takamagahara? Would you be able to survive the separation? Darius' confusion grew at the strange messages. Watch the video and see what part of your soul is doing… What we've done to her… Darius sat bolt upright. Her?! Swiping right again, a video message appeared ready to play. Shaking, he pressed play.

He watched as the video started traveling through the Illusory Ghostdom. "This is going to be good…" He recognised Gabriel's voice.  The video came up to his yellow-clad kitsune who danced in battle with a giant monster. "Our plan starts here…"

Riggles stepped into frame. He darted forward and attacked Ember. Her shikigami burst forth in response. One after another Riggles cut them down. In amongst the battle the monster was killed and forgotten. Riggles' sword struck out at her, forcing her to the ground. Normally, in their world, when a kitsune or tengu fell in battle they were respawned away from the battle… but something was wrong.

A hand moved into frame glowing slightly while Riggles continued to cut into Ember. The camera zoomed in and out on the various cuts into her skin and tears in her clothes until finally she stopped moving in resistance. He crouched down and poked her before picking her up and coming closer to the camera. "So you can see what I can do. Do what you always do. We will be waiting," he gently ran a finger over Ember's cheek. "Who knows. I might have more fun before you get here." 

As the video ended, Darius' eyes flashed angrily. So that's why Ember has been missing. He stood up and made his way out of the room and briskly started to walk towards Yukkii's room. We need to settle this NOW.

He stalked to Yukkii's bedroom, his phone tightly hold in a white knuckled grip in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. It took a few moments before. Yukkii opened the door. It didn't take much for Yukkii to guess something was very wrong. Wordlessly, Darius passed his phone to him and let him watch the video he had just seen.

"Oh my…" Yukkii indicated to Takoyakii to come closer to have a look. "This will be difficult to rescue her," They all jumped when Darius' phone began t ping. Yukkii handed the phone back to him. "You better check that."

Darius flicked through to the new messages from the unknown number. "I've had my fan," he read aloud to the two. "Want to see what I've done? I promise it will be worth your while." Darius bit his lip and lowered his phone so they could see the screen before pressing play.

The scene looked familiar. It was a guild station deep within the bowels of a guild headquarters. Banners of Rogue were covering walls and emblazoned on umbrellas and other paraphernalia littered around the room. In the centre stood Riggles and Gabriel with Ember crumpled before them.

"Pathetic…" Ember whispered trying to get up. "If you want a fight with Dari then why not attack him directly. Why use me?"

Everyone looked up in surprise when footsteps started to come closer to them. Darius hit pause before letting out a deep breath. His anger was rising but he didn't want his guild to be the targets of his ire.

“Get over here,” he said indicating to Kirei and Siegheart. “Better you two know what is going on.” Once they were close, the group quickly filled the two in before pressing play on the video again.

"You being his beloved spouse makes you the perfect bait," Riggles crouched down reaching out to her again. Once again, Ember summoned her shikigami in response to keep him away from her. "Your shiki are no match for me." She weakly tried to fend him off before he leaned forward and grabbed the front of her dress to pull her close to his face. "Your power is worthless here."

Kirei and Siegheart both knew what that word would do to Ember. They watched as her mind shut down escaping from what was happening before her. Riggles and Gabriel both started laughing at her response. "Little did you know Assassin worked for us!" Gabriel leaned forward to poke Ember's cheek to try and elicit some response from her. "He did his job well. You're completely useless now. Perfect bait for your spouse."

"Hmm…" Riggles dropped her on the floor before placing a hand on one of her bows and gave it a mock tug. "Since you're not adverse to having tengu in your bed, perhaps a few more will be good for you." The video ended abruptly causing Darius to let out an enraged sound. Everyone present jumped, not use to Darius expressing so much emotion let alone anger.

"If he so much as touches her," his voice caused chills though everyone present. "There will be nowhere he can hide from me. I will kill him no matter how long it takes."

"What do you propose we do?" Siegheart asked, concerned that Ember was now in a situation with Riggles doing god knows what to her. "We need a battle plan before we go in there."

"I'll handle Riggles," Darius growled softly. "I doubt he will be able to be manageable by anyone but perhaps Kirei." Yukkii nodded. "There are more of us than there are of them currently. We can try 1v2 their members." That brought a round of nods. "We need to focus on overpowering them with sheer members."

~~~

Riggles pulled a few non-essential bows on Ember’s dress undone and strategically placed some cuts in her thigh high socks before he stood up. He looked over to Gabriel with sly smile. 

“Are you really going to?” Gabriel asked mildly concerned. He had his own spouse, Ginx, and wouldn’t dream of cheating on her.

“No,” Riggles replied walking away to find a rope. “I’m not that disgusting.” He shuddered before returning to tie Ember’s wrists together. “But I will make the impression that I did to make them off-balance.”

“Kings was going to join us for this,” Gabriel replied with a wry smile. “They're going to be mad we started without them. Leanne and Omegatron in particular were looking forward to it."

“Well they failed in their task to weaken League,” Riggles replied smiling back. He tested the rope on her wrists before attaching it to the rigging. “League will have their work cut out for them if Darius goes berserk,” Giving the signal, he guided Ember’s body until she was hanging freely before letting go to be hoisted the rest of the way up. He reached up and waited until her tails no longer touched his hand. “Stop there!” He called out. “Perfect. The stage is set.”

~~~

It wasn’t long before the guild members of League were gathered outside of Rogue headquarters.

“As much as I don’t want to say this,” Yukkii said to Darius and Kirei. “But there will be a number casualties from this battle, it would be best to focus on rescuing Ember and leaving. Try not to prolong the battle longer than needed.”

“I agree,” Kirei replied with affirming nods from Darius. “Our guild knows the risk but they want to help get Ember back.”

“I don’t know if I'll be able to remain in control…” Darius voice was strong but strained. “Not after seeing those videos…”

“Try to keep your head,” Kirei rested his hand on his shoulder. “We don’t know what we are walking into. Try not to go berserk with what you see.”

Darius took a deep breath and clenched his fists. With a nod, everyone walked into the building. Unlike the usual hustle and bustle of League, the Rogue headquarters was as silent as a grave. The group walked through and made their way down to the guild station.

“Oh my god!” Moon cried out as soon as she looked into the guild station. 

Ember swung slightly from the ceiling by her wrists. Trails of blood made red tracks down her body and staining her white tails. Drops occasionally fell to the floor letting them know something somewhere was still actively bleeding. Darius' eyes narrowed. He could see bows that had been undone and the tears up and down her legs.

“You spotted my fun,” Riggles walked across the centre of the guild station. “You have quite the catch there and lucky too to have someone as loyal as her.” He stopped just to the left of where Ember hung.

“Probably the only thing you’ll be lucky at,” Gabriel also came out and stopped to the right of Ember. His hands began to glow lightly once again. “Shall we begin?”

League - Chapter 5

 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

~~~

Ember sighed as she travelled through nether. She had borrowed Darius' rhino… Without his permission… So she could get through it quicker. She was amused that she had already killed Yoto Hime and Ibaraki Doji with the help of the rhino who threatened to gore the monsters if they so much as touched her. They didn't drop much that was useful other than perfect gems. She hoped Mori Baba would have something for Darius.

The nether bosses scared her, Nether Girl more so than the other bosses in the area she was hunting in. While the first two were like kitten's before Nether Candle, the last three that roamed here could easily eat her for breakfast. She bit her lip as she guided Darius' rhino to slowly creep up to where Mori Baba stood. She borrowed the rhino for more protection and security.

Dari tends to ride his motorcycle more than his rhino she reasoned with herself. I also left a note for him in case he is looking for him. She gave the rhino a little pat before sliding off his back and pulling nether candle from its sheath tucked in the saddle. She quietly stepped forward, trying to keep her laughter in when the plod-plod-plod sound of the rhino following her as quietly as he could. Well… At least I can tell it's Dari's rhino and not Kirei's…

She put out her hand and the rhino stepped moving. Inching forward, she raised nether candle and leapt in for the kill. Behind her, she could hear a stampede of sound before the rhino appeared again at her side with his horns aimed at Mori Baba causing the monster to back away from her. Yup… Definitely Dari's rhino… Won't listen to a word I say…

The boss dropped nothing but a small scroll that she looked at curiously. Scrolls were rare finds and often held nuggets of information. She knows the League library held many scrolls that members had found over the years. She leaned against the rhino and began to unroll it.

Marital ties can cause strife when distance causes instincts to go haywire. A simple way for a pair to put their instincts at bay is creating a means of contact that is maintained during the time that is required.

Ember stared the scroll in confusion. Instincts? What are those? And how are they related to being married to someone? She rolled the scroll up and tucked it into a pouch on the rhino. I need to ask Snowbunny about that when I get back. He and Tako have been married for so long that he would have come across what instincts are.

Hopping up onto the rhino, she gave him another gentle pat. "Let's go see if Rama has anything for your Master next," she said to him before guiding him onwards towards the boss' usual hangout.

~~~~

Darius was frustrated. Ember kept avoiding him. She never returned to their room anymore at night and when he would go to search for her, he was unable to find her. 

Even her pets were unable to tell him where she was. His only hint was that his rhino was missing and a note that read “He’s with me” and a little red heart. 

His instincts were screaming at him to find her. It had been over a fortnight since they last had any sort of physical contact and as the days began to increase, so did the volume of his instinct's voice. 

I can remember feeling this agitated when Hanae left… He thought as he stalked through the library. He needed answers about how to manage his instincts before they became all that he could hear. But it stopped after a while. Why isn't it stopping with Ember?

He walking along the shelves, he searched for information on marital bonds. He remembered there was a book he read before he married Hanae that explained to him how it worked but because it had been so long since then, he had forgotten a lot of the information. His fingers tapped the spines of the books as he read the titles. Baby Orbs 101: Rituals for Summoning, Wings of a Tengu, A Tail of Kitsune Skills… Where is it? He continued to skim the shelves until he found what he was looking for. Found it! Wings and Tails - A Book on Marital Ties.

Picking it up, he looked through the chapters until he found the one on instincts. Marriage between Kitsune and Tengu creates more than just a bonding of two individuals. Many instincts are unlocked. Some are unique to the couple and some are generalized to all couples. Darius looked confused. Unique instincts? He continued to read. The most basic of instincts is awareness of your spouse. Awareness of whether they are awake or asleep, awareness of their emotional status, and awareness of their physical health. This instinct causes a massive increase in physical attributes. Kitsune become more energetic and vibrant, speed and evasiveness increases. Tengu, on the other hand, become stronger; being able to withstand more attacks and deal more damage. Darius smiled slightly. That explains how she becomes so bouncy after she wakes up.

He continued to skim the page. It described more basic instincts that he already knew about. He slowed down, reading carefully when he reached the information about separation. A consequence for a marital bond between a kitsune and tengu is physical contact. Generally speaking, most couples are able to maintain their instincts to be in contact by sleeping together at night. Simple things, such as holding hands and kissing, also help to maintain the bond between the couple. When there is a separation, such as a spouse being unable to be near their significant other for a prolonged period of time, the instincts begin to try and force the pair back into contact with each other. Only when there is no way for the pair to be close to each other, in such cases where one of the pair has left the country or passed away, the Gods will quieten the instincts and correct the imbalance created within the kitsune/tengu. Darius sighed. That doesn't help my current situation. It's not that I don't want to or that I can't get to her, it's that she's avoiding me. 

There have been instances where spouses with difficult or traumatic pasts have been able to shut down their instincts. Darius paused and stared at that sentence. Ember… He wondered if she was aware of her own instincts or even aware of what they were doing to him. In these cases, the level of agitation and persuasion felt by the spouse may become unbearable before their partner recognizes the issue. He sighed and closed the book. I'll take this with me. It may be that I'll need to unlock Ember's instincts again so that this doesn't happen in the future… Provided she finally recognizes what is going on now. Getting up, he made his way out of the library. Maybe Yukkii might be able to help me.

~~~~

Yukkii and Takoyakii were sitting in the communal lounge when Darius finally found them. They offered him the small strawberry mochi that they were sharing as a snack when he came and sat with them.

"Instincts…" Darius spoke softly. "I know you two have new been married for a long time. You two would know your instincts better than anyone. I need help getting Ember to recognize hers."

"How is that possible?" Takoyakii asked in surprise. "There isn't a way that she can't recognize them. I know mine can be so loud when Yukkii and I have an argument," Yukkii nodded in agreement and looked confused. 

"She has a bad past," he replied causing both to stare at him in shock. "You didn't know?"

"No," They both replied. Takoyakii looked at Yukkii with a raised eyebrow before hugging him. "Your voice is back!"

"It seems so…" Yukkii replied. He thought carefully for a bit before adding, "If that's the case then you'll need to talk her through hearing it. The more the two of you interact with your own instincts, the more likely the unique one will appear. I know it took a long time before the one Tako and I share appeared."

"Your unique instinct?" Darius asked. He couldn't think of what it could be as they seemed to be like any other married couple.

"Ours manifested as a skill," Takoyakii explained. "Telepathy. We can talk to each other without speaking out loud." 

Darius' eyes widened and understood now how Takoyakii was able to say what Yukkii was thinking. "So he was telling you exactly what he was thinking, that's how you could tell us."

"Exactly," Yukkii smiled. "You need to get Ember to hear hers first by guiding her. I know you two have been avoiding each other so once you find her, pin her down until you can get through to her exactly what is going on for you." Yukkii gave a very sly smile. "I mean you would pin her down a lot before you two had this episode." 

Takoyakii gave Yukkii a playful smack and Darius let out an exasperated breath. "Well, I'm sure you pin Tako down as well… A lot. Hard not to when they are so enticing at times."

Yukkii laughed earning another smack from Takoyakii. "Either way, until you can catch Ember, try focusing on communicating with your own instincts. You may find that it is a really good guide on how to communicate with Ember."

~~~~

Ember once again was travelling through Illusory Ghostdom seeking materials. She knew she was running out of time. She could sense Darius' agitation levels growing and the longer she took the stronger that feeling grew within her. She had also started to hear a small voice in her head. It was sad, crying for its partner. Ember had never had this before and couldn't understand why it sounded so sad. 

The sooner I get this done, the sooner I will be able to go back to him. She thought as she leapt into a fight with another boss. Soon… Nether candle met another weapon and she came to a jarring halt. No… NO!!! Everything faded to black.