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…”