"Where did you go?" Yenna asked me as I entered our shared tent and escape the pouring rain.
"I had a talk," I answered nonchalantly, as I grabbed a towel, and began to try myself off. My Yukata was soaking wet, so I began to undo the sash that held it to my body.
"With they noble boy?" She asked with a frown.
"No," I denied, as the belt-like cloth fell to the ground. As I spread open the bizarre orange-red dress that had come to be associated with me, I revealed the casual tunic and shorts I wore beneath. They weren't quite as wet yet, but I still felt the need to change out of them. I reached into my luggage, pulling a spare set from my bags, and quickly switched into it. All the while, Yenna watched grumpily.
"You're surrounding yourself in more dangerous people," She finally said, concluding that I must have talked with Auden or Elaze. Possibly even recruited them.
"That's right," I said, as I slipped the spare tunic over my head. "I don't intend to live my life in secrecy forever. The villagers have been good to me, but they can't keep me hidden much longer," I informed Yenna. Once I had changed my clothes, I set aside my dress, hoping to dry it off when the rain settled down.
After a short silence between me and Yenna, I spoke up again. "When I went into the woods to find the boy's sister, I came into a clearing. Trees were leveled, and blood was scattered around. But the only body I found was that girl's. Elaze. She didn't remember what happened, but all she had to show for it was a horn protruding from her forehead. I thought, this, this girl is dangerous. She's a wildcard. And I want her."
As I gazed to my sister and vassal, she looked back at me with worried eyes. "You always like getting into trouble," She finally said. I expect her to berate me and condemn my actions, to get into an argument. I expected it—and yet nothing happened. Sometimes I wonder just how badly I underestimate this girl. Maybe if I were more open with her then...
No, there's nothing to be done about it. I've already set my mind to a course, and Yenna knows it.
With nothing else to say, I dropped down beside my dear sister, and lean over, letting my head settle into her lap. "Com'on. I'll rain for a few more hours, so let's not spend that time talking about depressing matters," I urge, my ears twitching in excitement. "I'll let you play with my ears this one time," I offer, trying to sooth my ferocious sister.
She let out a soft sight through her nostrils, before her hands reached up to cup my ears. A smile formed on my face, as my eyelids slowly closed shut. I'll be causing you more trouble from now on, so be sure to watch my back.
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The rain went on into the next morning despite my prediction of "a few hours." Although its strength varied, Ezder's and my camp were forced to stay put until the water ceased. When I woke the following morning, I peaked my head out the tent to see the busybody knights preparing for departure, and recovering from the long night of rain. I saw Yenna helping out, and wondered if she was just trying to make them leave faster.
Commissioned illustration of Toyaru, digitally painted by bukojuice (bukojuice.deviantart.com) [http://i.imgur.com/tUYGEvp.png]
When I turned my attention to the inside of the tent, I realized my wet yutaka was replaced by a clean set that was ready for me to slip into. It was one of my darker yukatas, with a color similar to tree bark or coffee, and was decorated with leaf patterns. I stood up to pull the thing around me, and wrapped the wide pink-ish sash around my waist. After I fastened my clothes on and slipped into my sandals, I stepped out into the world.
Some eyes glanced towards my confident figure, but there was clearly work to be done. I spotted neither Auden nor Elaze, so I figured the twins must have been sleeping. It was already day time however, so as I barged into their tent, I kicked Auden awake. "Wake up, you brats!" I ordered, before kicking Elaze awake as well. Neither seemed pleased to be woken up in such a way. Auden groaned, slowly opening his eyes, but Elaze had jolted upright the moment I kicked her. I noticed that she wasn't wearing any clothes underneath her blanket, and remembered that she was also out in the rain.
As Elaze looked at me with a glare, as if telling me to get out, I placed a hand on her horn, and smirked.
"Dead."
"Wha—?"
"You two will clean up the tent, and pack it. I'll tell Yenna to lend you some clothes. Say goodbye to the kind Lord while you're at it," I said, before turning around to go talk with the aforementioned lord.
Ezder had just finished consulting one of his Knights when I approached him. "Toyaru... It seems the two of us will be parting here," He said with a casual smile.
"Indeed. Yenna spoke with you?"
"She spoke with my knight, yes. He relayed to me that you plan to take custody of those two children?" He asked for confirmation.
I nodded, taking a glance at our surroundings. "I have quite a bit of free-time, so I thought I would take those brats along to where they need to go," I stated.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"You call them brats, but I'm pretty sure the five of us are pretty close to the same age," Ezder said with a chuckle. "You're quite strange, Toyaru. Not many Fox Spirits are willing to interact with others, especially not for long periods of time," the young lord said with a raised eyebrow.
I shrugged, and opted to not explain my reasoning. Most fox spirits simply can't interact with all that many people. I was just a special case.
"Well, whatever your reasoning, I wish you well," Ezder said after a short pause. "If you ever need me—"
"I won't," I interrupt with a smirk. "You might need me though," I tease. As I approach him closely, within a foot from him, I near my face to his with the best confident smile I can muster, and whisper. "And if you do need me, all you have to do is call for help. OK?" I say as my hand presses against his chest.
The Young Lord swallows a ball of saliva at my advance, and laughs nervously. "I don't think I'll be needing it, but thank you for the offer," He said, as he slowly backed away.
I watched as he slowly regrouped with his Knights, and smile to myself.
A connection was made in that last exchange. My Divine Heart had linked me to him.
Enemy or not, from now on I'll have an idea of where he is. Unlike Sentra with her Divine Heart, I can't peer into his thought and emotions unless he experiences abnormally intense feelings, but just knowing the location is fine for now. He's a Lein nobleman within a rebelling territory. There aren't many reasons he might be here for. It's best to keep tabs on ones potential enemies.
As for the link conditions for the Divine Heart, I think I'm slowly beginning to understand them better. It's all speculative at this point, but I hypothesize that we Foxes are meant to be social creatures, and that the Divine Heart is a contract that forms automatically in one of two conditions:
1. When one becomes subservient to the other. In this case, "subservient" doesn't need to mean kissing a Fox's ass, but most forms of submission are valid. For example, the leader of a tribe, or ones parents.
2. Under the acknowledgement of equals. Usually, you could say this is for allies to form a contract, but you could also say that true enemies fall into this category as well.
Sentra's contract falls into the first category. I forced her into submission through force, and she yielded, before going as far as to serve me. Unfortunately, the Contract can, and often is initiated without the consent of either party. Sentra did not want to be linked to my Divine Heart, and even if I rejected her servility, the contract would still be formed.
The second condition appears to be more predictable, but less likely to form, especially in a society based on caste systems. A general won't form the same link with just a common soldier, nor would a worshiped deity fulfill this condition with a follower (though this relationship might fulfil the first condition).
However, Ezder and I are both entities that could be considered on an even plane. He may be a noble-boy with land to control, but I'm a Fox Spirit worshiped by many. Our exchange a moment ago, offering help to each other in that way, was another form of acknowledging we were in some way equals. Whether that was a good thing or not was beside the point.
Regardless, I don't think the Divine Heart's second condition evolved in order for me to aide my allies. If that were the case, then the link that bound me to a servant would be different than one which bound me to an "ally". And yet, both links operate in the same manner; the only difference is how they're established.
That's why I am certain that the Divine Heart exists in order to compete with my rivals.
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The goodbyes following that were short. I wasn't big on formalities, and Ezder wasn't willing to push it, so his group parted ways after a simple goodbye. He spoke with Elaze shortly, and they were gone.
My camp stayed put for the time being, although we did wrap up the tents in preparation for our departure. However, I and Elaze had clothes to dry up due to our adventure in the rain. Although I had plenty of spare clothes due to my journey, Elaze and Auden only had the clothes on their backs, so Ela's wet clothes was replaced by one of Yenna's yukata dresses. Yenna was actually a pretty big girl for her age, and Elaze was only a year older than her, but around my size. Still, Yenna wouldn't allow some strange person to wear my clothes, so Elaze had to deal with wearing clothes a tad too large.
Then again, isn't that natural for this era? Buying clothes a few sizes too big, and growing into them? After all, clothes can't be reproduced on such a massive scale as in my world. I decided not to think too much about it. Maybe Aniel will revolutionize textile or something.
"So where are we going?" Auden asked, as he looked at his sister in the strange new clothes.
"We'll head back to my home-base once our clothes are dried," I informed, "From there, I guess I'll get you ready for fighting, huh?" I said, glancing at Elaze. "I think I can get you a nice sword. Think you could use a sword? And I mean to cut, not as a blunt weapon," I asked with a smirk. The horned girl rolled her eyes at my comment, but shrugged soon after.
"I've never used one. But I think I can learn with a good teacher," She said.
"Good. I have a good teacher," I informed her.
"W-wait, what are you talking about? You're gonna learn to fight?" Auden interjected, as he narrowed his eyes at his sister.
"Of course! I need to be able to protect you. I can't rely on this fox forever," she explained.
"Toyaru," Yenna suddenly interjected.
"Excuse me?" Elaze asked as she shot Yenna a look.
"The fox's name is Toyaru. You will address her as such," Yenna informed. Come to think of it, I never did tell them my name, did I? Ah, wait, when I introduced myself to Ezder I did. I guess it was just never necessary, was it?
"Whatever," Elaze said, turning back to Auden. "We can't just rely on Toyaru's protection forever," She reasoned.
"Then me too!" Auden insisted.
The twins both shot me a look, as if realizing it was my decision to make. After all, I was providing the tutor.
I groaned, as I realized talking Jenn into this wouldn't be as easy as having him teach Yenna.
"Fine, fine," I said. "I'll ask Uncle Jenn if he has time," I said.
The protective sister, and the cowardly brother. Both want to learn how to fight.
Hopefully training them will become a good investment.