League - Chapter 11

 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 stared at the tengu who stood before her. His hands were clasp in front of his body and he held himself in a pose of a demure little girl.  Another laugh sounded near her.

"I'm sorry Ember," XiaoChiChi and DaDiDi appeared from behind the tengu. "I had hoped to keep this a secret."

"I'm not a secret!" The tengu said in a high voice. He sounded very upset for XiaoChiChi wanting to keep him a secret. "I've never met her before who is she?"

"This is Ember," DaDiDi replied with a gentle smile. "She is the Guild Leader of League."

"Oooooh! Just like my brother," The tengu said with a little giggle. He looked at Ember. "He's the Guild Leader of Rogue you know."

It took a lot for Ember not to laugh at the tengu. There has to be a reasonable explanation why he… acting like this… She glanced at XiaoChiChi before looking back at the tengu. "So you know who I am, but who are you?"

"My name is Princess Rig," He let out a little shy giggle. "Or Princess for short. I've been looking for my brother for sooooooo long but I can't seem to find him." He looked at Ember with wide puppy dog eyes. "Have you seen him?"

Ember was uncertain how to respond to him. He… She… How do I tell her that she is him? 

XiaoChiChi came to her rescue. "Ember would have last seen Rig at dinner," She gently patted Princess' shoulder. "Your brother isn't a guild leader anymore. He made the decision for us to come live with Ember and League. He wanted to protect everyone."

"I see…" Princess started to cry. "Big brother soooooo gooood to everyone! He gave up his leadership for everyone! But I want to see him tooooo!" His tears began to flow faster. "I WANT TO SEE MY BIG BROTHER!!!" 

Ember stared in disbelief as Riggles went from normal upset to panic attack levels of distress. About to reach out to try and calm the crying tengu, she was stopped by XiaoChiChi. "Wait." Riggles continued to cry until suddenly he passed out. XiaoChiChi sighed and turned to Ember to explain. "We don't actually know why Rig has this little girl persona. But when she appears, Princess doesn't know she is actually Rig."

"So like a split personality," Ember mused staring down at him as he groaned slightly. "Does Rig know about Princess?"

"Fuck! My head," Riggles groaned carefully sitting up from his crumpled position on the floor. "I know about Princess. Painfully aware of Princess."

"But why does she exist?" Ember asked, her previous low and moping mood replaced with her usual curiosity. "I mean you turn into a cutesy anime girl when she's present."

Riggles gave an involuntary shudder. "I don't know. Chi just told me to stop acting like a girl one day and then I started to lose track of time. I would be doing something then find myself somewhere else. Chi and Didi discovered that when I lost time she took over. Taken a long time to become more aware of what is going on when she's around." 

Ember smiled. "She calls you her big brother."

"I don't have any siblings," Riggles stood up and shook his head. "Kitsune and Tengu aren't born in families, remember? Unlike our own children, we just are blessed by the Gods and brought into existence."

"Doesn't stop us from creating our own little families," Ember replied folding her arms. "Choco had a fondness for calling Dari, Grandpa, for a while. Cav and Sukab both call me Mum at times. So maybe she's adopted you as her brother."

"I've never met anyone like her so how she exists… Fucked if I know…" Riggles sighed. He looked up at Ember. "It's the middle of the night. What are you doing here?"

"Uhh…" Ember looked away. She didn't want to answer him. 

"You know moping isn't going to make him come back faster," Riggles scolded her mildly. "It will make the time go much slower."

"I know…" 

***

The next day, DaDiDi sighed as he waited while Vampira patched up the remaining cuts and scratches. Beyond the door, he could hear Riggles and XiaoChiChi arguing with each other. XiaoChiChi and him had been hunting when they were interrupted by Riggles and he had been killed. On respawning, he found that he still had scratches on him from XiaoChiChi's sword.

"Why the fuck were you slapping me for?" Riggles snapped irritated that he had minor cuts on himself that mildly stung.

"YOU SLAPPED MY BOSS FIRST!" XiaoChiChi fired back. Had she of been a cat her fur would have been standing on end. 

"Sorry," Riggles grumbled. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"AND YOU INTRUDED ON MY DATE WITH DADIDI TOO!" XiaoChiChi roared still angry at what had transpired. 

"You actually do some decent damage to me tho," Riggles said trying to placate the angry kitsune in front of him.

"I KILLED MY DATE COS OF YOU!" XiaoChiChi was in tears now. She didn't like hurting DaDiDi. She doted on him as much as Darius did with Ember.

"I didn't mean to Chi," Riggles replied softly. "Didi is ok. Vampira can patch him up good."

"Are you two still arguing?" DaDiDi asked finally walking out of the infirmary. "I'm fine." XiaoChiChi gave DaDiDi a hug, burying her head against his neck. "What am I going to do with you…"

Riggles raised an eyebrow at the two in front of him before letting out a small chuckle. "Well… You married her."

***

Kirei skidded down the snow-covered slope of Illusory. He was tired and spots were floating in front of his eyes. It had been a long time since he had been back home. What am I doing? He sat down in the snow with his sword resting in his lap. This isn't going to bring Choco back… 

He looked up at the sky and sighed. How is Ember dealing so well without Dar here? Did I miss something? Kirei's heart felt heavy. Choco… 

Exhaustion finally caught up to him. Feeling like he had been doused in cold water, Kirei fell onto his side. It wasn't long before the darkness of sleep overtook him.

League - Chapter 10

 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

~~~

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?"

League - Chapter 9

 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

~~~

After lunch, Yukkii made his way along the long corridors towards a certain tengu's bedroom. His heart was heavy, worried about how the tengu would react to the news he was going to give him. He didn’t have a choice. The outer worlds were coming closer to invading and he needed to leave to investigate more closely. Out of everyone, he could only entrust this mission to Takoyakii and himself.

Raising his hand, he knocked on the door.

"It's open," A male voice called out. He sounded preoccupied with something. "Come on in."

Yukkii pushed open the door to find the tengu he sought sitting on the floor surrounded by his beads. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to change the configuration to make my aura stronger and more overwhelming," he replied threading a few beads onto his bracelet before poring over the remaining beads on the floor. "You need something Yukkii?"

"Yeah…" Yukkii leaned down and grabbed his wrists. A bright light passed between the two tengu. "I'm passing the leadership to you."

"Wait what!" The tengu looked down at his wrists and realized the twin cuffs that had once sat around Yukkii's wrists now held tightly around his. "Why?"

"Sieg…" Yukkii took a seat next to him on the floor. "My sources have been reporting to me that the outer worlds are encroaching on ours. One mentioned meeting a tengu that killed him without batting an eyelid. I have to go investigate to make sure that our guild can handle any oncoming threats."

"I'm not a guild leader!" Siegheart replied. "I don't know what to do."

"You have Dar and Ember here who can help and guild you," Yukkii replied softly. "Dar knows a lot about leadership and Ember was the guild leader of Hope before coming to us. They can guide you." Yukkii stood up with a sigh. "I'll be leaving with Tako tonight after dinner. Please try not to make the guild worry too much."

Siegheart nodded and watched as he left the room. I think I'll do one better. Ember knows and has been a guild leader. I'll pass the cuffs to her.

~~~

Just before dinner, Siegheart strode quickly through the halls up to the top floor. He wanted to offload the cuffs to Ember as quickly as possible. They're more trouble then they are worth to have.

Before the two married, both Darius and Ember were fine with Siegheart coming into their rooms without knocking. Ember, in particular, had so many pets who would barricade the door to prevent him from coming in if she was getting changed or not decent when he tried to enter. He figured since they were together and held the same thought on that that he should be fine going in without knocking.

He opened the door and froze in his tracks. There was no mistaking what they were doing. His face heated up as he tried to move away and back out the door. A few moments passed of him staring before a yelp and a very intensely pleasured moan from Ember snapped him out of his frozen state. He backed out the door and shut it again behind him.

"Even I would have told you not to go in there unannounced," Kirei said trying his best not to laugh at Siegheart's embarrassed expression. "Those two are worse than Choco and I."

"KIREI!" Chocolatte gave him a smack on the arm. "I saw you were going to be here." She took note of him trying to cover his wrists with his sleeves. "Something we can help with instead while they are occupied?"

Siegheart sighed and showed them the cuffs. "Yukkii passed the leadership to me but I don't want it. I'm not a guild leader. I don't know how to be a leader." He indicated with his head back towards the closed door behind him. "But Ember does. She was the guild leader of Hope. If anyone can be a guild leader, it's her."

"Keep them hidden until after dinner," Chocolatte replied after a rather quiet and vague moment. "I'll ask her to come to see you."

"Thankyou Choco," Siegheart replied somewhat relieved that the cuffs would be moving from him relatively soon.

~~~

"Ember?" Chocolatte pulled on the sleeve of the red clad kitsune before her. "Sieg was looking for you earlier. He looked a bit frantic."

"That's strange," Ember replied with a frown. "Not much phases Sieg. The only time I've seen him detached from his happy self was when Skeith and then Toto left to go on a journey. I wonder why he was looking for me tho."

"I'd suggest going to see him before you go up to your room for the night," Chocolatte replied. "We both know once you go there Dari isn't going to let you leave again until the morning…" Ember blushed lightly at that. "He's been more possessive and protective of you ever since the attack."

"Haa…" Ember shook her head. "Also more sparta in training me. If I don't jump fast enough he bites… And not in a good way." Chocolatte giggled and gently gave Ember a little push towards the door. "I know I know. I'll go see Sieg."

She made her way through the halls, her tails swishing behind her. She had seen Siegheart slip out earlier looking a little nervous. Part of her wondered what was so dire that he would go to her instead of Darius, Kirei, or Godson. Maybe it's a kitsune issue… His playboy ways have gotten him in trouble? She pondered over the possibilities until she got to his bedroom door. She knocked on it lightly.

"Ember?" She could hear his voice from inside. He sounded nervous.

"Yeah," She folded her arms and stared at the closed door. "Choco told me you wanted to see me." She squealed in surprise when he suddenly opened the door and dragged her inside. "What?"

"Did she tell you what it was about?" Ember shook her head. Siegheart sighed and pulled the sleeves of his robe up to show the twin cuffs marking him as Guild Leader. "Yukkii passed it to me. He said he was going on a journey, I'm not a guild leader Em… I don't know how to lead… But you do." He took her hands and focused on the cuffs transferring from himself to her. "I know Dar doesn't want to be guild leader."

Sighing, Ember looked at her wrists before leaning down to pick up the single cuff. "I wonder what Dari is going to say about this…" She covered her wrists and sighed again. "I wasn't expecting to become a guild leader again…" She leaned back against the closed door. "I actually didn't expect to become a co-leader but Snowbunny made me one. I hope I don't mess up…"

"You won't Em," Siegheart replied with a smile. "You were the guild leader of Hope for a long time and did well. You'll do well being our guild leader as well." 

"I hope so," Ember turned to face the door. "I better go see Kirei." Siegheart nodded and waved. 

With a deep sigh, Ember made her way up to the Dynamo floor. If she was going to be guild leader, she needed his support. She already had Darius' without him knowing she was now guild leader.  Raising her hand, she knocked on the door.

"I saw you coming," Chocolatte said as she opened the door. She took a quick glance down at Ember's wrists and saw the hint of the cuffs under her sleeves. "I made sure Kirei stayed here."

"She wouldn't tell me why though," Kirei added with a huff. Ember wordlessly entered and took his wrist. "Wha?"

"I need you as Co-leader," Ember replied pushing back the sleeves of her robe to show him the twin cuffs. "Dari and I will need you as impartial if we have a difference in opinion."

"Of course," He ruffled her hair causing her to pull her ears back mildly annoyed. "Does Dar know?"

"Not yet…" Ember sighed. "Not sure how to tell him."

"Don't," Chocolatte said with a sneaky smile. "It'll be more interesting if you don't." Seeing Ember's raised eyebrow she added "I haven't seen it… I just know."

Ember shook her head and closed her eyes. "Time to rearrange the floors…" Below their feet a low rumble grew in volume. The building groaned unhappily about being woken up again to rearrange itself. Chocolatte and Kirei watched at the ancient magic that flowed around Ember. 

Kirei looked out of the window. Darkness, like the middle of the night, lay beyond. He knew they were in a little pocket dimension while they were being moved. When Ember finally opened her eyes, the scenery outside the window gave way to a close-up view of a cherry blossom tree. Petals gently floating in through the window with the breeze.

"Top floor…" Kirei said before sighing. "Longer distance to walk now to get outside." Chocolatte smacked his arm in response.

~~~

Darius straightened up from his position of crouching and holding onto the table. What happened? He hadn't expected the building to shake. Earthquake? He looked up at the clock. Ember isn't here yet… Mild concern ran through him before he shook his head. I haven't done anything for her to avoid me again. Being too distracted with his thoughts, he didn't see or hear the door open.

Ember stood there watching him shake his head. "Headache? Or your instinct bothering you?"

"Neither," He replied and moved to give her a hug. "You're late."

"Sieg needed to see me and I also had to go see Kii…" Ember trailed off feeling him run his hands down her arms. Silence spread when he reached her wrists. 

"What did Sieg need to see you about?" His fingers ran over the bump the cuff made over her skin. He tested both sides and could feel it on both. She should only have one cuff…

"Take a guess…" Ember was smiling wryly. She knew he already guessed but didn't have all the pieces to how.

Darius stepped slightly. His hands still resting on her wrists. "Sieg had the guild leader cuffs. How?"

"Snowbunny passed them to him," Ember sighed letting go of the confidence she was presenting. "Sieg told me Snowbunny went on a journey with Tako. He said he had never been a guild leader before and that he wanted to pass it to me because I use to be Guild Leader of Hope."

"So you accepted and went to Kirei to make him co-leader?" Darius asked. Ember nodded and he sighed. "So that shaking was you." He came closer again and pinched her ear. "So then I get to have a bit of fun with the new guild leader?" He paused looking at Ember's expression. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if I'll be a good guild leader," she replied softly. "Hope was a smaller guild in comparison to League. Also strength-wise, we were weaker as well…"

Darius sighed and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "You'll do fine."

League - Chapter 8

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 spent the next few weeks in the infirmary sleeping most of the time, unaware of the growing agitation in Darius and subsequently the silence and trepidation amongst the rest of the guild who could sense it. She was unaware of his frequent visits to the infirmary and often spending long periods sitting next to her, holding her hand, and giving her a little kiss on the forehead before going again. 

Vampira, on one of Ember's requests during the brief periods she was awake, had done a few tests. Ember was fearful of what Riggles may have done to her while she was unconscious and wanted to know for certain. She was sure that Darius would want to know as well. She asked Vampira to tell him after telling her so that she could manage how to handle his, and her own, emotions if her worst fears were real.

"There's nothing," Vampira said softly to her, a smile played on her lips. "Riggles may have harmed you but he didn't violate you…" Ember let out a huge sigh of relief before the small voice chimed in, crying out to be near Darius. "So how much longer do I have to stay in here?"

"I can guess what will happen if I release you into Darius' care," The miko gave Ember a very cheeky grin. "If the stitches are stable enough today, I'll ask him to take you back to your room during one of his visits."

"That's good to hear," Ember yawned, the medications helping her heal starting to draw her into sleep again. "I hope to wake up in my own bed." 

~~~

Vampira sat at Ember's bedside and re-dressing the numerous wounds over her body. She expected Darius would be coming to visit soon and ask his usual question of "When can I take Ember back to our room?" Today she had a positive answer for him.

Gently she started to roll Ember over to access the large wound that stretched down the length of her back. A second pair of hands appeared taking some of the weight from her. She looked up to find Darius with a concerned look on his face.

"She'll be able to go back to your room today," Vampira said as she took the dressing down. "Her wounds have all been stable and will be to withstand a bit of…" She paused to glance up at him, catching a very light blush on his face. "Well your instincts will be driving you to… you know…"

"Is that why you held her here for so long?" he asked quietly. He could feel his face threatening to deepen the blush and he let out a huff in response.

"Of course," Vampira teased. She put the finishing touches to the bandage before helping him ease Ember back onto her back. "So you're welcome to take her back to your room whenever you like." She gave a small bow before leaving him with her in peace.

Darius looked down at Ember. She looked peaceful in her sleep. One of her tails tapped the bed lightly in time to something. Letting out a sigh, he carefully picked up and keeping in mind where her wounds were and carried her out of the infirmary.

His journey to their bedroom was slowed by League members coming over to talk to him and check on her. Each one expressing relief that Ember appeared to be comfortable and healing well. He was relieved when they finally reached their bedroom.

Once inside, Darius eased Ember onto their bed and gently covered her up with the blanket. She hadn’t stirred at all since his visit and her subsequent discharge from the infirmary into his care. His instinct was wreaking havoc in his head. Telling him to wake her up. To pin her down and reclaim her. Devour her… He shook his head hard. Ember needed her rest. No matter what his instinct wanted, Ember’s health came first.

It will help her heal. It insisted to him. She needs contact from you just like you need it from her. Darius rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed, taking off his shoes and jacket. Trust me. I’m a part of you, don’t you trust yourself?

That’s not it. He sighed. I want to take things slowly where you are concerned. He got into bed and pulled Ember close to him. She rolled over and snuggled up to him, letting out a soft purr when she finally stopped moving. Ember isn’t aware of her own instinct, so slow is best for now.

Then you need skin to skin contact if you want to go slow. His instinct gave him images of holding hands or kissing before giving way to more sexually suggestive images. Your unique instinct is linked to having that contact.

You know what it is? Darius asked as he carefully interlocked his fingers with Ember’s that rested on his chest. 

I do. It replied in an almost smug tone. I can’t tell you because you need her instinct active and working to be able to use it. He could tell that if it was alive it would have been smiling at him. It suits both of you. Suits your personalities well.

Darius looked down at the top of Ember’s head thoughtfully. He wondered if their unique instinct would manifest as a skill like Takoyakii and Yukkii or whether it was an additional sense like Kirei and Chocolatte. He watched her ears flick and turn in her sleep like she was listening to something. Suits our personalities, eh? He gently stroked her hair while he thought about what their unique instinct could possibly be. Kirei and Chocky's unique instinct is the sight. Kirei has retrocognition where as Chocky has precognition. Tako and Yukkii can talk to each other telepathically. 

He watched her flick her ears again and then her right one flicked like as if something was on it that she wanted to shake off. She groaned slightly and flipped over onto her back before scooting herself backwards, nuzzling into his side again. Her tails flicked up and rested across his thighs, one trailing upwards towards his chest. It wasn't often he got to watch her sleep, but when he did, her way of sleeping was strange and at times cute. He could feel her ears still moving just under his chin. 

"Ember?" he asked softly. He didn't want to wake her but he didn't want her to go back to sleep if she was already awake. He wrapped both arms around her tightly. "Ember?"

"Hmmm?" Came the soft, almost muffled reply. "I'm currently not awake. Please call back again later." Darius couldn't help himself. He started laughing, startling her awake in the process. 

She looked up at him confused. He took a hold of one of her ears and gave it a playful pinch eliciting a little squeak from her before tying to tuck her head under his arm to protect her ears from more pinching. "They're sensitive you know."

"I know," he replied before sitting up, taking away her little hiding spot for her ears. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Immediately Ember shrunk back into the blankets prompting him to pull her out again. "I'm not angry that you were avoiding me." He paused seeing her disbelief. "I am frustrated that you did that but I'm not angry."

"Then what did you want to talk about?" she asked quietly. A little voice in her head cried out. It's meeeeee! It's about me! She shook her head vigorously. I won't go away.

He smiled. "That voice is your instinct," he said as he listened to his own advising him on what was happening for her. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Ember tilted her head before leaning over and pulling out the scroll she found in nether. "This mentioned instincts as well." She handed it to him. "You're my fourth spouse but this is the first time I've heard of instincts or even had a voice in my head. What are they?"

He quickly skimmed the scroll before responding to her. "They are the manifestation of a marriage bond. When the pair have a healthy relationship it develops and become another skill that only the pair can access. For example, Tako and Yukkii are able to talk to each other telepathically. That is the unique skill they possess. Kirei and Chocky have the sight. Kirei can see the past and Chocky can see the future."

"Then what is ours?" Ember asked curiously. She had been oblivious to the extra skills the others possessed and was now quite intrigued that she shared unique skill with him. Her eyes widened realization. "That skill Gabriel used… That was his unique skill with Ginx!" Darius nodded. "So the possibilities of what our skill will be."

"Well…" he leaned in closer with a smile that made Ember shiver slightly in uncertainty. "That's what we have to find out."

The next day Vampira came by to check on Ember's wounds. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly at times causing Ember to shiver under her touch. Darius had already gone to do some training for the day so Ember had to bear the brunt of Vampira's disapproval on her own.  

"If I had known he was going to be rough with you I would have held you longer," Vampira said poking the reddened areas around the stitches. Ember jumped and used her tails to swat at Vampira.

"He would have gotten more irritated with that," she replied with a smile. "I was wondering…"

"About your outfit?" Vampira asked redressing the wound on her back. "We couldn't salvage it. Hime and Spring tried to repair it but it was too far gone." The door clicked open almost punctuating her sentence. "I let Darius know about that earlier…"

Ember looked at the door and narrowed her eyes at her spouse. "So… If you knew, where did you run off to? You don't smell like you've been training." She sniffed the air again. "You smell like new fabric and flowers."

Darius gave her a wry smile. "I went to see Hime and Spring if you must know." He turned and hung a coat hanger that had a black plastic covering over whatever was inside. "I remembered you had been looking at an outfit a while back and wanted to get it eventually…" He removed the cover.

Ember's eyes widened. The outfit was the one she dreamed of having for such a long time. Long red kimono sleeves tipped with a black design along end. Cherry blossoms dotted the length of the sleeves. The short skirt came to mid thigh and gave the illusion of being loose and flowy. The tight black obi around the waist held in place with multiple tasseled ties that hung down well past the knees. Most of all, she wanted to reach out and touch the white fur collar. It looked so soft and inviting to the touch.

"You spoil me too much you know," Ember said unable to say anything else. "Thankyou."

"You spoil me in other ways," he replied with a wink. "You're welcome."

~~~

Chocolatte shook her head. Kirei had been cuddling her while she read from the books Yukkii had given her. She felt off. Knowing what this was, she closed her eyes.

She was in Darius and Ember's bedroom. From the look of it, she was standing next to the bed. Part of her told her not to look down at the bed but instead look at the door.

After a while, the door opened and in walked Siegheart before coming to an abrupt halt, his face reddening in embarrassment. He quickly and quietly retreated back out the door.

She let herself flow through the door to where Siegheart stood outside talking to Kirei and herself. She noted he was purposefully keeping his wrists covered. 

"Choco?" Kirei's voice brought her back out of the vision. "You stopped turning the page. Something wrong?"

"My precognition activated," she replied. She looked out the window. "When it gets dark, we need to go to Darius and Ember's room but not go in."

"Did you see something that involves them?" Kirei asked looking concerned.

"No," she replied placing a bookmark in the book and leaning back against him. "We'll see Siegheart there…" She shook her head letting the last remnants of the fuzzy feeling to pass. "I'm not sure for what reason we meet him but I do know he will be there."

Both of them could hear the dice of change starting to rattle… Will they land on a win or will it be snake eyes and doom for the guild?

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.

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…"