27 The Road South

  [Player: Kazuki Arata]

  [Level: 4]

  [Waza: Black Hand, Thread Cutter, Aura Sense, Dark Rider, Retribution, Eviscerate]

  [Kegare: 24%]

  [Current Location: Mountain Trail, descending from Karasu Peak]

  ---

  Kazuki wasn't sure when he had begun to think of it as "the South Road," but that was where he and Kuro found themselves: A winding forest trail that, according to Kuro, would soon open onto farmland before finally hitting the coast. Once they found the sea, they would head toward a small fishing village and hitch a ride farther south to Zao, the mountain that Kuro said was their new destination.

  She had shown up at the Grand Shrine after its darkest hour, coaxing him to leave while Suzume still lay healing from her gunshot wound. And Kazuki had not been strong enough to say no.

  Now, with every step, guilt gnawed at him. The guilt of leaving Suzume without a word. The guilt of leaving Fleet behind. The guilt, too, of simply surviving—knowing the entire attack was because of him and so many people had bled because of him.

  Kuro, padding silently beside him in her human form, seemed to sense none of his turmoil; or if she did, she simply didn't care. She walked lightly, arms swinging at her side like a little girl, humming now and then. Each time the trail darkened from moonlight shadows of thick pines, her cat eyes glinted gold, making him wonder if she was leading him along the correct path… or straight into more danger.

  Kazuki broke the silence. "You're not doing it again are you?"

  "Doing what?"

  "Leading me into a trap." Kazuki replied, remembering their encounter with the Inugami.

  "Of course not Kazuki. That would be ridiculous. How could you possibly fall for exactly the same trick a second time?"

  Kazuk didn't know how to respond to that so the silence dragged until he replied, "So… the coast. Then a boat. Then Zao?"

  "That's right, little mouse." Kuro flashed a playful grin. "We could walk all the way south, but Zao is quite far from here. A boat's faster, especially if we find a friendly fishing vessel to stow away on." She added a purr. "Besides, after that big show you and your friends made at the shrine, it's best we stay mobile."

  Kazuki flinched. His friends… Would Suzume forgive him for leaving without saying goodbye? If he ever returned…

  Suddenly an unexpected but loved voice called from trees above them, "You two are soooo slow."

  Kazuki looked up, startled. Perched on a branch just overhead was Fleet, his fluffy orange tail swishing behind him as he grinned down at them. With a graceful leap, he landed softly in front of them.

  "F-Fleet?" Kazuki stammered. He couldn't help the wave of joy that coursed through him. The little kitsune had been his best and most loyal friend since they had met—saving each other from other-dimensional terrors and giant monkeys alike. "You… I thought—"

  [Kegare: 20%]

  Fleet was grinning. "I told you, Kazuki. I have a way of being where I need to be." He shrugged impishly. "And where I *need* to be is with you. You're not ditching me again!"

  Kazuki's chest tightened with relief. "But what about Suzume? And the shrine?"

  Fleet's smile dimmed. "She's safe enough to not need me around, and so is the shrine." His tone was gentle. "She's… recovering, and she's got Karaba, but it's you who's walking off into who-knows-where. That's... like... my favorite place!"

  Kazuki half-laughed, half-cried and pulled Fleet into a hug so tight the kitsune squeaked.

  "Oooh, how precious." Kuro's voice.

  Kazuki pulled back, worry already nibbling at his joy. "Fleet, I left because—"

  "I know," Fleet said. "You're protecting them. And you want to know about the people from your world who attacked us." He paused, expression turning serious. "I'm not staying behind while you go without me, Dad."

  Dad?! —but the word hammered into his heart with a warmth he would have never have expected. And Fleet was oblivious - he hadn't even realized what he had said.

  Kuro gave a sharp cackle, her gold eyes lighting up. "Oh Dad, is it? My, my, Kazuki… You've been busy! They grow up so fast, don't they?."

  Kazuki's cheeks heated. "Fleet, you—did you just call me—?"

  The kitsune's ears pinned back in sudden embarrassment. "Uh… did I? I mean—" He sputtered,

  Kuro yowled with laughter, hugging her sides. "Oh, I like this! Daddy Kazuki. Oh, me too, me too! Can I be your little girl, daddy?"

  Fleet's tail was between his legs and Kazuki was worried that he might turn tail and run from the teasing, but Kazuki quickly seized the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry about her," he said, offering a kind but awkward grin. ""By the way, Fleet, this is Kuro. Kuro, Fleet the fox."

  Fleet's annoyance melted into relief, and he shot Kuro a pointed look. "He's not my actual dad, you know."

  Kuro only giggled. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say… little brother."

  Fleet stuck out his tongue at her.

  ---

  They walked until they found a small clearing to rest by tall cypress and cedar trees, their thick branches filtering the waning moonlight. The forest had grown quieter in the dark hour just before sunrise.

  Halfway through some story Fleet was telling—a breathless saga about the time he tried to build a "magic scarecrow" for the shrine fields—the kitsune suddenly froze. His ears twitched, swiveling like tiny radar dishes. He held up a hand, cutting his own story short.

  "Someone's coming," he whispered, his eyes suddenly sharp. "From above."

  Kazuki tensed and Kuro stepped back towards the deeper darkness of the trees.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Fleet closed his eyes, listening. "Wings."

  Kazuki's breath caught. "Tengu?"

  Fleet nodded, opening his eyes. "I think it's—"

  Before he could finish, a faint speck appeared against the sinking moon. Then a second. The larger one soared in wide arcs, wings extended, while the smaller darted ahead; unmistakably a crow messenger, followed by a Tengu warrior.

  "Karaba," Kazuki breathed, stomach clenching. *He followed me.*

  Moments later, the winged figure glided into view, executing a swift downward dive. Kazuki recognized the broad shoulders and black feathers.

  Then Karaba landed lightly a dozen footsteps away, his wings half-extended for balance.

  Behind him, perched on a slender branch, was a crow companion. The bird soon launched off the branch, cawing once, and vanished into the night as though delivering a message.

  Kazuki stepped forward. "Karaba…"

  Kuro tensed, then stepped back fully into the trees at the edge of the path, melting into the darkness without a sound.

  Karaba's expression flicked from Kazuki, and then to Fleet. He exhaled, folding his wings more neatly. "Let me guess," he said in a low voice, "you intended to vanish without telling me."

  Kazuki's cheeks burned. "I…I'm sorry…"

  Karaba raised a hand, cutting him off. "I'm not here to drag you back."

  It took Kazuki a moment to respond, "You're… not angry?"

  Karaba shook his head. "You've made your choice. And if it were me, I'd be doing exactly the same thing: Leaving to protect the shrine and to keep death away from those you love." His gaze flicked briefly to Fleet.

  Kazuki's throat tightened. Karaba's acceptance and the utter lack of condemnation nearly undid him. He realized that he had been mentally preparing for Karaba's fury. Instead, he found understanding.

  [Kegare:18%]

  Fleet stepped closer, eying the Tengu with curiosity. "Uh, hi. Did you…did you come to say goodbye?"

  Karaba's face darkened. "I came to deliver something."

  He withdrew a long cloth bundle strapped across his back. The shape was too short for a sword and too broad for arrows. With care, he set it on a fallen log. "The shrine guards and I re-bound and repaired these. Cleaned them. Engraved them."

  Kazuki recognized the shape at once: two machetes.

  They were the same battered weapons he'd taken up in the courtyard battle. He remembered hacking through waves of lesser yokai, feeling kegare surge in his veins. After the carnage, the blades were chipped, the handles nearly ruined. He'd left them behind.

  Now, Karaba pulled away the cloth, revealing twin machetes with new wrappings on the hilts. The blades gleamed with fresh edges. Faint carvings of crow wings and stylized tengu glyphs traced the steel near the spines.

  "We named them," Karaba said quietly. "This one is Karasuyoku—Crow's Wing." He placed the first machete in Kazuki's right hand. "And this is Yamikiri—Shadow Cutter." The second blade found its way to Kazuki's left palm.

  [Weapon Acquired: Karasuyoku & Yamikiri]

  [Kegare: 16%]

  A rush of conflicting emotions tore through Kazuki. "Why…?"

  Karaba's voice was rough with unspoken feelings. "You used them to defend us. After you left, I couldn't just let them rust. You have more weeds to clear."

  Kazuki lifted Karasuyoku, feeling the new weight. The handle was wrapped in dark leather, the Tengu sigils giving it a subtle pattern. The blade felt balanced. "Thank you," he said hoarsely.

  "Just be sure the shrine's attackers never return."

  Kazuki nodded, unable to summon words until... "Please, tell Suzume I'm sorry."

  Karaba's gaze turned distant. He shook his head once. "I can't do that."

  Kazuki's heart sank. "You… can't?"

  If you have something to say to Suzume, say it to her yourself, next time you see her."

  Kazuki swallowed a swell of regret. "Then… take care of her."

  Karaba paused. Slowly, he looked down and answered softly, "Always."

  Fleet looked from Karaba to Kazuk. Kuro's eyes shone golden in the darkness of the trees.

  At length, Karaba exhaled, flexing his wings. "I must return before dawn. The Master's wards need constant tending.

  Kazuki gathered his own courage, sheathing Karasuyoku and Yamikiri across his back. He and Karaba locked eyes one last time. Then the Tengu nodded. "Kazuki."

  "Karaba."

  The karasu tengu sprang into the night air with a powerful beat of wings. Kazuki watched him vanish into the early morning sky until only the hush of forest night remained.

  [Kegare: 15%]

  With Karaba gone, Kuro reappeared. They walked as the sun rose, none of them saying much. The ache in Kazuki's chest refused to go away.

  Eventually, Kuro announced that if they didn't find a place to rest, she'd refuse to take another step. So they flagged down a slow-moving cart. The old farmer blinked his eyes thinking that he must be half asleep; from a distance he had seen three travellers on the road but when he got to them there was just one young man with a black cat and a small dog. Kazuki gave him a few copper coins and then the three of them hopped onto the back of the cart.

  The man was traveling down to the coast at first light. His cart was full of empty buckets that reeked of fish.

  Dawn came in a sweep of peach and gold across the eastern sky, casting the winding road in a gentle glow. Creaking along in the back of the cart, Kazuki slumped against a sturdy woven basket, exhausted. Kuro, a sleek black cat the size of a large housecat, was curled up across his lap. Right beside her, equally curled, was a red fox—Fleet—sound asleep.

  It was so absurdly domestic that Kazuki almost laughed. A perfectly normal family, right? he thought, remembering Fleet's slip of calling him "Dad." He reached down, giving each sleeping yokai a gentle pat.

  The road descended, and soon they caught the scent of salt in the breeze. Another hour passed, and the horizon opened up to reveal the sea—a vast expanse of brilliant blue beneath the rising sun. The cart driver pulled to a stop on a bluff, gesturing.

  Below them was a small fishing port. Wooden piers jutted into calm waters, and moored at them were a dozen or more fishing boats with painted prows. Some villagers were already awake, hauling nets or baskets of oysters. Smoke curled from fires near the docks, with fisherfolk cooking their morning meals. Beneath the gull cries, the bustle of early commerce thrummed: shouting about the day's catch, the rattling of anchor chains, the scrape of wooden crates being loaded.

  [Aura Sense - Active]

  As Kazuki gazed upon the scene, he felt something strange: The familiar resonance of shrine reishin energy fading behind him, replaced by a new rhythm. The pulse of the ocean, ancient and vast, thrumming with its own spiritual language. The cries of gulls replaced the shrine bells, salt air replaced incense.

  Kazuki breathed in the brine-tinged air, heartsick and hopeful all at once. This is our next step.

  At the cart's jolt, Kuro stirred, and shifted into her human form… and Kazuki found her warm body still curled up on his lap. Fleet blinked awake, still a fox, and yawned widely showing his sharp canine teeth and small pink tongue. Then he hopped to the ground.

  "Oh, it smells here," Kuro complained, wrinkling her nose at the strong odor of fish.

  Fleet stretched his arms, face brightening with curiosity. "I've never been this close to the ocean," he said, excitement growing as he stared at the waves. "Is that all water? Can you drink it? It's so… big!"

  The farmer nudged them off the cart, accepted a few more coins, and continued on his way. Left alone at the bluff, the three travelers gazed down at the fishing port. In the light of dawn, the port was far from glamorous—just a sleepy, working-class village smelling of fish guts and seaweed.

  "All right," he said quietly, "we find a boat that'll take us south. To Zao."

  Kuro gave a languid stretch, and smiled, perfectly satisfied.

  Below them, the fishing port unfurled into daily life: fisherman hauling in nets, wives cleaning fish over wooden troughs, children chasing gulls. The calls of morning vendors blended into the hush of the rolling tide.

  Kazuki couldn't help but feel, in that moment, that he'd stepped from one world into another.

  He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Then, with Kuro and Fleet at his side, he made for the winding path that would lead them to the pier below, the dawn sun shining on the ocean waves.

  ---

  [Achievement Unlocked: Garden Tools]

  [Next Chapter: Shadows Under the Tide]

  Thanks for reading!

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  Also, if you love dark, atmospheric Weird Fiction as much as I do, absolutely check out "The sound beneath silence" by Pennywise89!

  Would you have gone off with Kuro?

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