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
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Months had passed after the incident with Rogue and now the two guilds had merged. Ember found that despite the rivalry between Riggles and Darius, it didn't overall affect the guild. After much discussion, Ember made XiaoChiChi co-leader and made Darius and Riggles Dynamo so that the five could speak on behalf of all aspects of the guild as well as represent both the original League members and the members who came from Rogue.
It started to become clear that the outer worlds were starting to encroach on theirs and Darius became their ambassador to those worlds. The scroll Ember found was helpful with keeping their sanity from their instincts while Darius was away.
But the latest journey was starting to take its toll on Ember. Darius had been gone for a month now with no sign of returning yet and Ember had started to withdraw into herself. She spent most of her days hiding in their room or in her old bedroom buried under a pile of pets.
Kirei wasn't fairing any better. Darius had taken Chocolatte with him on the journey to help her gain more experience. Unlike Ember, Kirei spent his time taking his frustrations out on bosses, mobs, and other guilds that crossed his path.
Mildly concerned, Riggles and Xyz approached Godson and Yukkii. While Kirei was still productive on some level, Ember had become completely nonexistent. Yukkii and Takoyakii had returned to the guild shortly before Darius went on this current trip. It was decided to leave the leadership in Ember's hands.
“Any suggestions?” Yukkii asked to the group gathered. He had drawn Siegheart, Moon, and Talon into the conversation with Riggles, Xyz and Godson. The three knew Ember well and could have ideas on how to get her moving again.
“Dari doted on her a bit,” Moon replied with a gentle smile. “She just needs the prompts he use to give her.” She lowered her head. “Ember already told me the voice of her instinct is barely there now. She’s sad because her link to Dari is almost completely gone.”
“She was doing some dungeons with me before she stopped turning up,” Godson said with a frown. “Perhaps each of us needs to prompt her with something so she doesn’t replace Darius with one of us. If he comes back he can pick up where he left off.”
“Supporting,” Yukkii nodded thoughtfully. “Ok then. Let’s check-in with each other on what we’ve done. Hopefully, she’ll pick back up again once she feels our support and become more independent.”
“What about Kirei?” Siegheart asked. “He’s a loose cannon at the moment. He’ll crash and burn if he keeps going.”
“As much as this sounds mean,” Riggles replied, his arms wrapped around Xyz and his chin resting on top of her head. “It might be what he needs. To crash and shut down for a while. He’s doing what Ember is doing but in his own way. He needs our support to let him do his thing then help him back up when he falls.”
“I agree,” Godson said with a nod. “I’ll start the ball rolling with Ember,” He held up a toy sloth that he had been carrying with him. “Darius actually left this with me to give to her on her birthday. But I forgot to give it to her. I’ll start with this. Give a reason to visit her and see how she is.”
Yukkii nodded. “Then we can say after that that we are visiting and prompting out of concern. She’ll understand that eventually.”
***
Godson stood at her old bedroom door. He had already checked the room she shared with Darius and found it empty. Sighing, he opened the door and looked around. It was always a shock to the system to see how many pets occupied the small space and how they all got along with each other so well. A single glance at the bed told him Ember was there. Sighing, Godson gave an almighty whistle. The pets all looked up at him and scattered onto the floor. They weren't about to ignore him… not after the last time he came to look for her.
Leaning down, he picked Ember up before carrying her back up to her proper bedroom. He frowned. She was light, more so than any kitsune he had ever carried before. He made a mental note to make sure they prompt her to eat as well. She was losing weight along with strength the longer she was left to mope. Once reaching her room, he gave a wry smile and unceremoniously dropped her onto the bed causing her to jolt awake.
"Why did you do that?" she asked softly. Her voice was also almost non-existent. He sighed and wondered if kitsune fade away from sight if they are left alone too long.
"I had to go fish you out of your pets and you ask me why I did that?" Godson replied with a huff. "Your pets at least know not to annoy me."
"No one asked you to come to fish me out of my pets," she replied irritably. "I was perfectly fine where I was."
"No one asked me but I did it because your spouse gave me something to do," he replied matching her irritable tone. "And I'm doing it now."
"Dari isn't here to give you something to…" Ember paused staring at the toy sloth that was thrust towards her face. "Do…" She reached out and took the sloth from him. "It smells like Dari. Where did it come from?"
"He gave it to me to give to you before he left," Godson's voice gentled noticing tears starting to silently fall down her face. "He said to give it to you on your birthday. I forgot."
"It's a sloth…" Ember stated. Godson had no idea why she had to state what the thing is or why that brought a little smile to her face. "I guess Dari would call me one if he saw me now."
"That he would," Godson agreed. "You're weakening Ember. You need to become strong again. You're guild leader!" He sighed restraining the urge to shake her hard. "I'm going to come back tomorrow and you are going to do your training." Ember opened her mouth to protest. "I'm not giving you a choice." He turned around and walked out of the room, not giving her a chance to say no.
Ember blinked confused before looking down at the sloth. "You really do smell like Dari… I guess he's not going to come back. This sloth is his way of telling me to not slack off." She flopped on her side and continued to stare at the sloth. "I don't know if I can do that. I miss you too much…"
The next morning, Riggles, Xyz, and Moon all entered Ember's bedroom. Unsurprised, they found her lying on her side fast asleep with the sloth facing her like as if she had been staring at it for a very long time. Xyz looked at Riggles before pointing at her and then indicating at the bathroom.
Riggles scratched his head and sighed before picking Ember up. He knew Godson had warned him about how light she was but being told and feeling it were two different things. As he walked towards the bathroom her looked down examining her. Unlike when he had attacked her before, her hair was all frizzy and her fur matted. She had been neglecting herself more than what he had been expecting.
"Set her in there," Xyz pointed to the shower before making shooing motions with her hands to get him out of the bathroom. He closed the door behind himself and sat down at the small dining table in the middle of the room. He jumped startled at the noise from the bathroom. Initially, Ember's squeals punctuated the silence before laughter could be heard. It didn't stop. Ember was laughing at something the girls had done.
Moon sent everyone a video of what had happened in the bathroom.
Ember sat curled up in the corner of the shower, fully clothed and completely drenched. The video panned around to show Xyz and then Moon also completely drenched. The video went back to Ember who was laughing hard at the two and uncurling to allow them to help her.
Moon sent a message. I hope this is progress and that she'll let us help her.
I hope so too. Riggles thought replaying the video before leaning back and waited for the girls to come out of the bathroom again. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking back over the past month. He didn't think the two guilds would blend so seamlessly but they had. The rivalry and frequent sparring matches between himself and Darius didn't affect the overall mood of the guild. If anything, it made a friendly competitive sort of vibe to the guild. Guild members close in aura would spar each other and improve themselves. The guild on a whole became more self-sufficient in aiding the growth of their members.
"Rig?" Xyz pulled him out of his trip down memory lane. "Moon and I need new outfits since ours are completely soaked. Would you go get us some?"
He sighed. "Of course. I'll be a while tho."
"That's ok," She gave him a wink and blew a kiss. "Moon and I are going to be a while detangling Ember's hair and fur."
"So she let you help her ok?" Riggles asked mildly hopeful.
Xyz shook her head. "She did it herself after we were insistent on her having a shower. But her hair and fur does need our assistance."
"Ok then," Riggles replied getting up and heading for the door. "I'll be back soon."
Once Riggles had left, Xyz ventured back out into the bedroom and over to the wardrobe. Pulling it open she looked through the outfits inside for Ember to wear. She flicked past Ember's old signature yellow of Child at Heart from her days as Guild Leader of Hope. Getting close to the end of the array of outfits and not finding anything that spoke to her, she found an outfit covered in a black bag with a note pinned to it.
I wonder how long it takes you to find this. I'm coming back. Don't lose hope in me.
It was signed by Darius.
Xyz looked at the bag excitedly and ran with it back to the bathroom. "Look what I found!"
Moon and Ember look at the back and then at Xyz almost in sync. Xyz hung the bagged outfit on the back of the door and removed the note to give to Ember. The effect was immediate.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her nose twitched sniffing the note and the familiar scent of her spouse washed over her again. "How many things did he leave lying around for me to find?" she asked wanting to get up and open the bag. "First the sloth and now this…"
"Who knows…" Moon replied handing a brush to Xyz to try and make the detangling go faster. "But no one knows you better than your spouse. He probably knew you would have a hard time with him being away for so long."
Ember could barely contain her excitement as she sat still for the two kitsune who was working on her hair and fur. As she stared at the bag, she wondered what could be inside. She had a lot of outfits and couldn't think of any that she didn't have.
"Ok!" Moon's voice was like a gun for a race to Ember. She was up and looking over the bag looking for a way to open it. Xyz raised an eyebrow at Moon as the two watched her eagerly open the bag. All three kitsune gasped at the sight of the outfit within.
The low cut outfit looked like it would hang just off Ember's shoulders. The elegant, long, ankle-length blue robe was dotted with cherry blossoms and gold scrollwork along the edges. A darker black overcoat sat over the top and ending just past her hips in a curved hemline. The long, kimono-style sleeves of the overcoat sported larger cherry blossoms and ended in a golden tassel on either side. The robe was held closed with an emerald green obi that tied into a bow over her breastbone. Hungover the hook of the coat hanger also sat a delicate ruby necklace that sat comfortably around her neck and a few tendrils cascading down to almost between her breasts.
Immediately Ember put it on and spun back and forth looking at it on herself in it at different angles. "Dari…" She began to cry again and curled up in a ball on the floor. "It's so pretty! Why didn't you give it to me while you were here!" Moon and Xyz sighed and let Ember cry herself to sleep.
"This will take a while…" Xyz said to Moon who nodded in agreement. "But I suppose I would be the same if Rig went away for a long period of time."
Moon looked away. “I’m totally single now… I’m sort of glad I won’t know.” Xyz gave Moon a comforting pat on the back.
As the weeks went by, it became a never ending routine for Ember. In the morning, Moon and Xyz came by to wake her up and take her to breakfast. Godson would take her from there to run through Illusory with him. Siegheart would next drag her before she disappeared to have some lunch with him. After lunch, XiaoChiChi and DaDiDi would take her to hunt through the Realms for bosses and gears. Dinner was next taken up by Takoyakii and Yukkii before finally Zhillion and NovemberRain would take her to the Training Grounds for battle practice.
Ember fell easily into the routine and gradually started to be ready and waiting for her friends to come and collect her. At times, she found herself wanting to hide from them and mope or sleep until Darius came back. But her friends wouldn't let up on her.
Sighing, Ember sat up in bed after Zhillion and NovemberRain left her in her room for the night. Getting up, she left her room and wandered down to the hot springs and sat with her feet in the water. She sighed and stared at the ripples on the surface. Being without her spouse for so long, she was starting to lose interest in continuing to get stronger.
She was deep in her thoughts, considering her options when a small girlish giggle surprised her. She looked around before a voice let off a child-like "uwu" sound. Ember's ears pricked up as she sniffed the air. Rig? She continued to look around.
"What are you doing here?"
