Foxside: The Temple of Inari 52 - Nine Years of Foxes

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Temple- Library

Steven nods. "Yeah, that makes sense. It's a matter of how the light and shadow works. But yes, no elimination of light. Sounds simple enough." he says.

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary, Evening]

"You are too wise."

Arkangel shakes her head.

"I have tried to destroy it. It was made anew in the place where I found it. But maybe my hands just did not have the strength."
A quick nod, the sword unclasped yet again and held out.
"Call your connections. If it fails, I will take the sword up a third time, and be its cage once again."

[Fenric]

[Shadow Temple - Library]

Kazuki nods

Exactly so! And so, we start again with the simples of all mysteries: Frederick, invoke "Darkness" yet again. Stephen, please observe and listen.

And Frederick does the simplest of all shadow mysteries again.

---

[Sanctuary, Evening]

Mi Su bows her head

Holy Malukhar: Creator of Life, Forger of Souls, Ye who stand between the Players and the Characters, Holiest of Holies and greatest of Gods: hear now my prayer!

Uh... oh...

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Temple- Library

Steven listens and watches intently, ears twitching. It only takes two times for him to grasp the concept, holding up a hand and stepping forward, mimicking the moves Frederick made easily, producing a near-identical effect.
"Well, well. Simple indeed." he says, smiling brightly.

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary, Evening]

Arkangel also bows her head.
"Dallas, if you are real, hear my voice, give me strength. Keep my mind clear."

She draws the sword, its slightly curved, endlessly shiny blade glinting. Her gauntleted hand covers the mended break in the hilt.
The scabbard, now replaced in its slot, has not a touch of the evil that infests the blade.

[Fenric]

[Shadow Temple - Library]

Kazuki nods

Not bad, not bad. Now there's an even more interesting variation of that - have you learned Unlight yet, Frederick?

Frederick shakes his head no

Works like a torch cantrip - but instead of casting light, it casts dark. Doesn't make bright shadows, though, it just cancels any light that was there. Observe!

And he performs a mystery not all that different from the Darkness that Stephen just learned. A small, dark sphere appears in the air and as promised, it radiates a light cancelling effect.

---

[Sanctuary, Evening]

I'm not sure what possessed me to have her ask him for help, but surprisingly enough...

(( Git on with it, lad! ))

Sorry. *ahem*.

There is a swell of power in the sanctuary, very unlike Inari at all. Alien, foreboding, more than a trifle grumpy, and a feel that makes our dear goddess of rice seem like a small child... and then he is here:

A stocky dwarf with balding black hair and a long black beard. He has piercing black eyes and a mighty muscular frame, and is wearing a heavy smith's apron over a reddish tunic. Two heavy looking hammers and a number of leather pouches hang from his belt. He speaks with a bad, fake Scottish accent as dwarves tend to do.

Well now, here's a thing! I hadna thought I'd be coming back here yet again. Fer what be ye callin' me, ye durn elfy fox thing?

Mi Su bows deeply

This woman has brought an evil sword, but fears our ability to keep it may be insufficient.

Malukhar reads through the previous posts and skims the IRC logs, but doesn't find much of any use.

So, "Arkangel": what be this broken and mended sword ye carry, so infested with evil and all?

[Ionbound]

[Shadow Temple - Garden]

Izumi looks thoughtful for a moment, then nods

Yes, Princess. You may very be surprised, however: the majority of my ability depends on my husband, who has no talent with shadow magic whatsoever, yet has an impressively tremendous reserve. It is a good example for you.

To my knowledge, there is no such thing as a second-degree channeling: you can only draw on my own native abilities.

Helen nods and says, "Fair enough, then. I suppose we should find Kazuki, then?"

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Temple- Library

Steven frowns, staring intently at the demonstration. He pauses for a moment as he considers it, before producing the same effect. His flickers once or twice, but otherwise seems to function.
"Well at least the simple stuff is appropriately simple." he says, quite happy to not deal with nausea like with his first spells.

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary, Evening]

Arkangel looks down at the dwarf. Curious. Not a fox at all.

But dangerous; she can feel the power he has, and there are many more things to be afraid of than those she knows of.
"Where did you get that name for me?"

"This is Burning Winds. It is a manifestation of all just anger, and is itself a small portion of the end of all things. It wishes to find its fellows and be reassembled."

[Fenric]

[Shadow Temple - Garden]

Izumi shakes her head

No, you should start with me: my native reserves are small enough that there is no risk of damage to either of us. That is why I was forced to develop my channeling skills.

And she starts to instruct Helen in the minor spell that starts the whole process

---

[Shadow Temple- Library]

Kazuki nods

Natural abilities are always easier

Frederick tries unsuccessfully a few times before he finally manages

There!

Kazuki nods

Good. Now, three mysteries very often used together: Summon Shadows, Shape Shadows, and Animate Shadows. They're named properly and do what they say. So: the first. Now, don't worry about accidentally summoning a friend or relative: this produces a small amount of the raw substance of the plane, not an individual shadow.

He proceeds to demonstrate how to summon a formless glob of shadow-stuff

---

[Sanctuary, Evening]

Malukhar chuckles

Nae, I be not a fox. Yet I do be a god, lassie, and can read far more than ye ken.

Then he looks at the sword

Indeed. An' what were ye hopin fer ta be done wi' it?

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary, Evening]

The woman answers without moving her lips.
"It would be best if it did not exist."
Not that Arksangel wants that. The sword is her only friend. But it's what's best.

"Or at least sealed away where no mortal can find it."

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Temple- Library

Steven nods, and while it takes a few tries he gets the mystery to function for him shortly.
"All right, what now?" he asks, eyeing the shapeless blob with some measure of curiosity.

[Fenric]

[Shadow Temple - Garden]

Kazuki smirks at Frederick, who has yet to succeed

That little blob will stay with you quite a long while, but it's not quite permanent. It can be destroyed with enough physical effort, and bright light or fire will weaken it very rapidly. It isn't an ongoing effect as such, and can't be dispelled. But it is summoned, so it can be banished. And, naturally, you can dismiss it at any time.

All that aside, the are two things you can do: most folks move on to the mystery Shape Shadows to instantly form the stuff into a shape from your mind. The quality of the results depends on the detail and precision of the shape you make in your mind, so it's best to start with something easy. But there's a less well-known thing you can do: the solidity of the stuff responds to your will. You can give it the consistency of clay, for instance, or even water - mold it, shape it, slosh it around - then concentrate on it and it will instantly "set". It's not sticky, so it's pretty well useless as glue, but otherwise it's pretty nifty. Trouble is, you'd better have some skill as a sculptor, or have something to mold it with.

Frederick finally gets a misshapen blob of shadow for himself, which he promptly gives the consistency of goo and has slip between his fingers and puddle on the ground.

Gah.

Kazuki shakes his head, then goes through the instructions for Shape Shadows

---

[Sanctuary, Evening]

Malukhar considers the request

It be well within me abilities to do either such thing, though gaoler be not my chosen place. And after all, what's best be best... though yet I hate ta be doin' such a thing. Hm... Perhaps what the lad needs is some more perspective... and a wee change in attitude.

Then he looks contemplative

Yes... yes... that be the path. Now, fer yer charges: fer I donna be working me work fer free! I think it be time fer me folk be havin some representation here! Here be humans, elves, wolfy things and foxy things, goblins and orcs and yet all manner of vermin: but me own kind be scarce as diamonds in an iron mine. I have a world in mind ta be addin an connection fer, and ye can help.

These here durn elfy fox things be havin an outpost out in the moutains - I dinna care if ye yet ken aught about it - it be a nobbut a landmark fer ye: go to the place where their path meets the high road, then head direct south where ye'll find a path that winds into the hills. Ye'll be findin a doorway of clear dwarven style, but yet opens onto nothing, fer it be sealed by the magic of an elvish god. Needs be a mortal agent to be lookin it over and findin that what needs ta be done ta confound his lock.

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary, Evening]

Arkangel nods slowly.
"You'll change the blade, and make it not itself."
It *metal noise*s unhappily.

"And in return I need to go to this door and open it for you. Deal."

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Temple- Library

Steven concentrates, shaping the shadow into a very simple sphere. A sphere, after all, is pretty much the most simply 3D shape he could think of. He tries to bounce it on the floor like a basketball, leading it to splat a little bit. It seems that "soft" does not equal "bouncy."
"Whoops." says Steven as he tries to repair the damage and re-form the sphere.

[Ionbound]

[Shadow Temple - Garden]

Helen nods and casts the spell once Izumi teaches her. The other fox should hear a voice ring in her mind, Will thou lend me your power?

[Rebonack]

Hey look, it's Haruo!

The little kaiju kid has, by now, been changed out of his rather spartan lab outfit and into attire more fitting of the other children running around the temple grounds. Of course, a few modifications are required, but that's hardly anything new for a temple populated by various flavors of fox people. Tail-holes are normal! The slot for his dorsal plates are a bit different, though.

Thankfully the whole 'irradiated' issue was eventually seen to, though not without a great deal of reassurance that they were not in fact going to send Haruo to another dimension. You've got to be careful with what you say around kids, after all.

So now?

Now he's out in one of the fields laying on his belly and harassing a mole cricket.

The boy seems to like keeping his eyes on the ground for the most part, probably because he grew up never seeing the sky and wide-open spaces leave him feeling ungrounded. But staring at bugs in the dirt? That's close and neat and stuff! Especially super ugly bugs. Hopefully being near the radioactive child won't cause the cricket to mutate into a giant monster that rampages through the City.

That would be terrible.

[Deathkeeper]

Field

There's a snort and the sound of heavy steps on grass as a shadow falls over the tailed boy. If he turns, he should find a very pretty equine face looking at him. Sir James is a fairly large unicorn with the standard silver-white coat, spiral horn, and little goatee that you'd expect on a unicorn, as well as a tail that certainly belongs more to a mythical creature than a horse. His eyes are bright blue, and he has a very kind expression despite his animal face.
"Hello, lad. Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before." he says calmly.

[Rebonack]

[Cricket Harassment]

The boy gives a little start, providing the insect he was pestering ample time to escape.

"Oh... umm... hello?" he replies somewhat lamely. "Sort of? I've only been here a little while. I'm kind of lost and the nice people at the temple aren't sure how to send me home, so I'm just staying here. I really miss Doctor Honda and Miss Miki..."

He's also radioactive.

But there's no reason to talk about that due to the ministrations of the fox priests!

"Are you Sir James?" he asks curiously.

He had heard from one of the werefox children that Sir James is a unicorn!

And not one of those strange little unicorns, either. The big white sort.

[Deathkeeper]

Cricket Harassment

James' expression softens a bit. "Oh. I'm quite sorry to hear that. I'm afraid we're both here for the same reasons.
The unicorn lowers his nose and nuzzles the boy a bit. Hopefully he thinks of it as the same as a hug from an adult who doesn't have any arms to hug with.
"Though I myself was also dealing with suddenly being who you see before you today. It was quite jarring. Can you imagine? Me, with only two legs?" the unicorn makes an equine noise that's probably a chuckle.

[Rebonack]

[Cricket Harassment]

Getting nuzzled by a horse is kind of weird.

Before recently, Haruo hadn't ever even seen a real horse before.

Let alone a magical unicorn.

Living inside a school/research facility for psionically gifted children has left the boy with a pretty narrow range of life experience. Especially considering that he wasn't allowed outside.

People couldn't know that he existed.

After all, everyone knew what had happened with Biollante.

What a disaster that was. A disaster no one would ever want to see a repeat of.

"Were you human before?" Haruo asks curiously as he pushes himself up to his knees and reaches out to touch the unicorn's velvety nose. By now the cricket now long forgotten.

[Deathkeeper]

Cricket Harassment

James gladly lets the boy pet his nose. He truly enjoys being able to help kids. He thinks he might have enjoyed living in a less enclosed space with more trees, but there would be significantly fewer children to tend to in a forest.
"Mmm. I think so. I really can't remember what I looked like before this, but that sounds right." he says, his tone making it rather clear that this fact couldn't possibly bother him less.
"What's your name, lad?" he asks.

[Rebonack]

[Cricket Harassment]

What about forest children?

Like the skullkids!

They're more like creepy fey though, aren't they?

Creepy fey children things usually aren't as nice to be around as actual children.

Even actual children that are also tiny kaiju.

The boy pets James' nose!

It feels very fuzzy.

"I'm Haruo, sir. I don't really have a family name 'cuz I don't have a real family."

Poor kid.

[Deathkeeper]

Cricket Harassment

Haruo receives a pitying look and further nuzzling by the large unicorn, who sits down beside him.
"Oh, dear. Well, you're staying here with us, or at least those that do live here. I know we can't really fulfill that role for you, but please tell me if I can help you in any way. As long as it doesn't involve doorknobs. I can't handle those foul things."
Blasted doorknobs.

[Rebonack]

[Cricket Harassment]

That manages to get a laugh out of the boy.

"I can help you with the doorknobs if you like, Sir James. I'm really good with them."

He wiggles his little clawed fingers to demonstrate.

Look at all those fingers!

Perfect for fine manipulation like picking up paperclips and turning knobs.

That said, the boy seems to recall what he was up to previously and begins digging through the dirt in search of the escaped cricket.

It couldn't have gotten too far, could it?

"How did you turn into a unicorn? Does that kind of thing happen a lot where you come from?"

It might! Things work in weird ways in all those other worlds. Haruo was shocked to discover that most universes DON'T have three hundred foot tall fire breathing monsters! Crazy, right?

[Deathkeeper]

Cricket Harassment

James flicks his tail without shoulders to shrug.
"I couldn't tell you then, and I couldn't tell you now. It involved a crystal, and that's the most I could tell you. Though the most powerful people here aside from the goddess herself couldn't change me back, so it seems this is well and truly what I'm supposed to be. So it's really no trouble." he says with a contented sigh.

[Rebonack]

[Cricket Harassment]

Haruo comes up with a handful of dirt, smiling down at his prize. Though... as he begins fingering through it and discovers no cricket within, his smile quickly fades. How did it manage to evade him? He was sure he had caught it...

"Doctor Honda made me in a lab because some bad people forced him to..." the boy says as he continues digging around in the moist soil. "There were thirty clones made. I was the only one that survived."

Well...

That's pretty sad, isn't it?

Then the boy smiles up at James.

"But G-Force saved me and Doctor Honda and took us to the Institute! That's where I lived ever since."

[Deathkeeper]

Cricket Harassment

James continues to wonder at the terrible life this poor boy has had.
"Well, at least you had somewhere nice to stay after a while. I don't know those people, but I will try my best to take as good care of you as they did." he says. He doesn't know how else to respond to something like that!

[Rebonack]

[Cricket Harassment]

Haruo pulls up another handful of dirt and discovers no crickets within.

He gives a little huff of frustration, sending wisps of blue mist swirling out of his nose along with an electric sounding crackling up the plates along his back. Ever so briefly the sharp scent of ozone fills the air around him.

On the next try he manages to snag the mole cricket again.

Huzzah!

And for the record?

He was an infant when he was rescued. He really only knows of Red Bamboo from what the Doctor told him about his genesis.

People have a right to know where they came from, right?

"Thank you Sir James, that's really nice of you," the boy replies with a respectful (if awkward) sitting bow. He doesn't want to move too much or the cricket might slip away! "That's what you do here, right? Watch after the children?"

[Deathkeeper]

Cricket Harassment

James nods his head, careful not to poke the boy with his sizeable horn.
"Yes, I make sure that no trouble befalls you all when you are out here, for while it is up to your teachers to care for you indoors, the outdoor areas are my domain! And do believe I'm quite well suited for it. Many of the teachers here are members of Inari's clergy, but my horn can match at least some of their magic. The important things, at least." he explains.