Crow and Fox

      The heavy door with a polished copper knob was grinning, like a bloodied mouth without fangs. Its smile was full of eagerness and anticipation, as if that door could still bite someone's fingers off. This entrance, hidden in overgrown bushes, was one of many tunnels, hacked through Mount Tengu, who endured all of that. After such a long time the mountain stopped noticing these old scars on the tiles of a brick colour and clotted crusts of cracked varnish on oak doors. Those were simple, like the lilac smell of motley grass and some cloud, pinned to the sky.       A quick shadow also did not notice them, slipping into one of the tunnels, without even trying to look for the light inside. The runic script on the beams under the ceiling flowed like memories, dancing between the drops of time, that had long gone, but the feeling, with which Karamaru once had come here as a student and had met the master for the first time, did not wash off.       The master was wise, because at that moment the leader of all crow ninjas, even without a face attached to his substantial name, seemed always wise. And great. The master knew so much, that he had got old too soon. Really old...       Since then Gennarisai's portrait had become a lot younger, still hanging on the wall in the meeting room, when, having passed it, Karamaru turned into one of side corridors, where walls were shedding scarce scales of doors. The wide boards were covered with old spots from the palms and freshness of random shadows, that kept appearing every time, when burning torches tried to spread their cramped wings. The echo of high ceiling multiplied steps and exhalations, collected them, like small coins, which had any value only in large quantities.       Everyone in Karakara clan knew this shelter, like the four talons on their own foot, one of which grew from a heel in a sharp curve. But now the smell of all crushed skeletons in the closets was clogging the nostrils, and the stones themselves were strangled by a sense of something lost from sight, something new, cutting the very edge of the reflection in the glass and hiding beyond the horizon. Somewhere where butterflies were beating their wings, and every forge kept loosing nails.       Karamaru had never been called to the master so urgently before, and he could not even make a guess at the reason. It seemed that everything was calm and in perfect order in the shelter, training sessions and meditations were going on. Obviously, no one attacked the clan. And therefore a heavy foreboding was ready to fill these suspiciously quiet corridors, weighing on Karamaru's soaked wings heavily like Mount Tengu itself. It just did not stand emptiness.       Karamaru had not even knocked at the door of Gennarisai's office, he had not even bring his knuckles close enough to the wood, when the low voice, coming from the inside, creaked instead of the hinges.       "Come in, Karamaru"       Sometimes it seemed to the crows from Karakara clan, that master Gennarisai knew everything in the shelter, and the walls here had not only ears, but eyes as well. Made of pressed sandstone, whitish, but vigilant, those eyes pushed wrinkles with heavy eyelids confidently, as if they did not belong to the old crow’s face, but were torn from the sockets of his own youth.       But no. Master Gennarisai's youth, when he had become the rightful leader of Karakara clan, could have never been blind.       "Greetings, master..."       Karamaru’s wings did not have time to dry due to an urgent order to come here and awkwardly left transparent dots on the floor, even if those words did not need that. Rare drops were falling from the feathers, and Karamaru desperately wanted to shake the water off, but definitely not here. Not now.       He went down on one knee respectfully in front of Gennarisai, waiting for him to speak or at least to stop counting how much water has flowed, and how much remained in the wet fabric, covered with clear geometric patterns of intertwined lines. Those resembled a cage.       "Do you know, why I have called you?" - asked Gennarisai, almost without parting his lips. His breath did not disturb long, completely white moustache, in comparison with which his faded skin seemed gray. Thin, withered, incredibly ancient, Gennarisai was still emanating some oppressive inner strength, like the midday sun was casting shadows. And his hooked fingers, resting on the armrests of the chair, were filled with invisible energy.       Karamaru shook his head. Any warrior of Karakara clan knew very well, that master Gennarisai preferred to answer his rhetorical questions himself, so that the stream of consciousness would carry the conclusions, folded into boats of thin paper, somewhere obediently. They were dank and sinking, but knew how to surprise.       "The Nine-tailed fox is here. His name is Konnokami from Kitsunezuka clan"       Another mountain was made from an anthill, and the ceiling itself cracked under the careful steps of such ants. There always were a lot of stones to throw around glass houses.       Karamaru expected anything, but these words made his wings tense instantly, and another handful of memories of the waterfall dropped to the floor. A wild honey spilled out of the amazed eyes. He has always thought that the nine-tailed foxes were if not a fairy tale, than a thing of the past, something from other generations, when it was time to sow. And now it was time to reap.       The sickles of Gennarisai's eyebrows drew together and cut off the ripe questions completely.       "You know well that Karakara clan ought to serve them, and for centuries, we have never backed out of our duty. The point always was to make the Nine-tailed foxes' powers to serve our best interest at the same time. Do you understand it, Karamaru?"       His voice was soft, like a melted steel. Gennarisai's long curved claw drew a thin line on the armrest, like a trajectory of a flying thought. Or did it fall? That idea was surprisingly bitter, pressed against the tip of the tongue.       "It is customary for Karakara clan to provide every Nine-tailed fox with a personal bodyguard, who will always accompany them. Although such a powerful creature obviously does not need any protection. No, what we need is to guide them, like a flow of lava, onto the right track"       As Gennarisai spoke, so smoothly and calmly, monotonously, as if he was shifting wooden beads of an abacus, Karamaru could hardly believe his ears, until the master's fist clenched, shaking like a tail of a rattlesnake.       "I have chosen you to play this part. You will become his shadow. You will help him, obey his every order and do anything you need to reach his goals and to accomplish your tasks for our clan at the same time. You should make sure, that those are always in sync. Inform me of everything he is up to. And, most importantly, you must find out how to fully develop his powers. We will need this magic soon enough. And the Nine-tailed fox should not suspect anything. Alas, no one among them throughout the history has ever been able to reach the pinnacle of their power, but there must be a way, I am sure of it. And you will find that way.       Karamaru would have never dared to guess, was this chill, creeping down his spine, caused by his wet feathers or the question, which stuck in his throat. Why this kind of "honour" has not been bestowed on someone from the elite Dark Four? It was rhetorical anyway, and master Gennarisai's cold breath burned it, when he seemed to blow ashes off his lips and said:       "I know everything about you, Karamaru"       Karamaru's pupils dilated painfully, the honeyed flame trembled in his gaze, went out, he buried it and threw cold grave ground on that fire. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut tightly, to prevent worms of doubt from digging even deeper into eye sockets, but that was a weakness Karamaru could not afford.       Did master Gennarisai mean everything?       "But that does not matter. No one is going to punish you, cut off your wings and exile from our clan," - Gennarisai promised in a deceptively mild tone. His voice became quiet like a fall of a needle, which was red-hot and ready to sew the living flesh. - "Actually, our clan is in need of someone like you. So turn on the charm and be... as nice as you can to the Nine-tailed fox. Make sure, that for you he would do anything I say. By all means"       "... yes, master"       It could not be called a consent, since it was impossible to say "no". Karamaru made even deeper bow humbly, averting his eyes, hiding the shiver and unwonted hoarse voice. He could not decide, was it the beginning or the end of Gennarisai's speech, that had cut the ground from under him, because resonant knock on the door sounded like thunder.       Only the Nine-tailed fox could...       "Come in, lord Konnokami," - certainly Gennarisai felt his approach too. Having lowered his thin eyelids, carved with veins, he covered the pupils with this web to catch a speck of memory.       There was a long pain, dulled by decades. Of course, in the past it had been much sharper, than Gennarisai remembered it now, resembling a curled up barbed wire between the vertebrae and cracks in the ceiling. And also there was a light touch. Weightless as a fire, it did not burn. It belonged to the Nine-tailed fox.       His hand was fragile then, with small claws, and it felt the burning pain too. Cramps were passing over his palm, milking it for blood, making the fingertips pale and wrinkled, as if they had been in the water for too long. But that water was red and salty on the lip he had bitten. Four hours later, it cracked with a crust of a forced smile, which resembled inexpressive slit on the yellowish face. But Gennarisai had realised that his spine was healed and he could move again. More that that, he could spread his wings and break the wooden board in two with any of them. Crows from the clan were so happy, they could have held the boy high in the air, if he had allowed. But the air around him was thick and heated-up with ripples, shelling the upward currents off, resembling ghostly silhouettes of foxes' tails.       Thus Gennarisai realised that the little cub, who, according to Krarkara clan's spies, was the only one with the power to heal the wound, which Gennarisai had received in battle, turned out to be the new Nine-tailed fox. He was the last flower on the withered tree of Kitsunezuka clan. No one believed such flower could possibly bloom on the one of the most distant branches of the family, and so those branches had not been cut off by the enemies. But the Nine-tailed fox appeared shortly before the end of the world to become the new sun. It had been an incredible coincidence, and after that Gennarisai, who was used to making destiny, believed in destiny himself.       Karakara clan have always repaid its debts. Gennarisai had told the fox cub so, and the beauty of a debt was its payment. Like a flower, that longstanding debt has blossomed, became red, and it was, indeed, beautiful right now.       Gennarisai promised that he would help the boy become a shogun, when he grow up, and he was amazed at how little Konnokami had changed since then. Probably, he did not want to change. He had the same look in his eyes, cold and blue, like a riven noon, with lighter streaks around the pupils, resembling the crowned eclipse. His regal indifference befitted a creature, who had stepped out of the book of legends. Those like him did not exist. They lived, in spite of an attempt to destroy all the clans, who could give birth to a nine-tailed fox, which had taken place hundreds of years ago.       That age started a new paragraph with a brake line and was called the Fox Hunt. But Karakara clan has always known, that a new Nine-tailed would come and bring the changes with him like an autumn, plaited into red hair. Then someone would became his sword and the others would take it in their chests, like the most reliable scabbards. Gennarisai preferred to dance with open wings on the edge of this blade.       All the more, the stakes were higher that the throne of Edoropolis. Gennarisai was the only one, who knew exactly, what and when the Nine-tailed fox would have to do, even if he pays his life for it... although, no. If Gennarisai was the only one, then everything would be easier. Other creatures with less amount of tails and a lot of ambitions had their plans too...       The Two-tailed Nekomata had never came back, because he had never left.       The pupils narrowed from bright light, but Konnokami faced Gennarisai's studying gaze firmly. Only his breathing became quieter, having flickered like a burning splinter's light in a cold wind. So Konnokami had tasted this scorched air, where brisk draughts were carrying shedding bouquets of leaves. Every energy had its own distinct and clear scent for Nine-tailed foxes. They could smell it like a predator smells its prey... or the danger.       Now there was a bit of both.       "I am glad to see you in good health, master Gennarisai," - an elegant and unobtrusive reminder of that healing act from the past, perhaps, only seemed to be present in his courteous greeting. Konnokami bowed his head a little and, as if he had felt timid claws of another glance on his shoulder, turned around. - "And you must be Karamaru. It is very nice to finally meet you"       "Nice to meet you too, lord Konnokami," - the echo of a mutual greeting was lost in the shadow of the walls, which were kissing in the corner. It lingered for a couple of seconds before Karamaru bowed, and Konnokami did not have time to taste a honey tint in his yellow eyes. It was too deep, like the bottom of every water drop, which ran down Karamaru's neck to sharp collar-bones and the fabric of the kimono, he had wrapped himself in.       This water did not dare to dilute an invigorating black tea of his skin colour, but it made the dark blue feathers brighter. All members of bird clans had them for hair, and those scattered over Karamaru's forehead and shoulders like soaked strands, melting with their own shadows into the hottest twilight. The feathers framed facial features, mesmerising in their lively elegance, and even the edge of the nose, which was a bit pointy, as crows' noses usually were, had left a first scratch on the very heart.       Because Konnokami has suddenly noticed that there was a long earring, beautifully made of his own feather most likely, in Karamaru's right ear. Only in the right ear, it was almost blending into other feathers, but Konnokami knew really well, what it could mean.       Hardly daring to even hope, but not looking away, Konnokami's expanded pupils were eagerly drinking in Karamaru's beauty, which was only growing from it with every second, with each incredibly smooth movement, with every drop of radiant water, slowly streaming down along tanned collarbones and further beyond the collar, on the chest, emphasising the perfection of lines.       And then Karamaru had suddenly lifted his head up, and the bird's golden eyes met the fox's blue ones. That way fire and water make the time itself hiss, like a snake biting its own tail, and evaporate. And there was no pain, when the fire was being extinguished and the water was drying up, only the soggy smouldering embers remained in the black pupils.       Although, Karamaru's eyelashes hid them quickly, like a fan, fluttering delicately, and Konnokami swallowed the air silently. He has suddenly noticed his own quickened breathing, that was stumbling over fangs and parted lips, his pulse was booming, and the hot blood rushed to the cheek-bones.       There it was, the space being refracted without any magic, letting through it only water drops on the graceful living brass. The eternity had come the full circle of a round earring with a feather, lit the star under the eyelids and made the world real, despite of everyone thinking that it was too good to be real.       "I have chosen Karamaru to be your future bodyguard, lord Konnokami," - Gennarisai's smile was so wide, that his mouth could seem cut on the corners of the lips, which oozed with balm and white honey, and therefore stuck together. - "I hope, you are pleased"       "Yes, I am very grateful to you," - Konnokami was so pleased, that his eyes could not blink the reflection away, when he forced himself to turn to Gennarisai slowly, having met his patient glance with confidence. The earring in Karamaru's right ear was still swinging in his thoughts, like a hypnotising pendulum, teasing with a promise of something unspoken, but it was heard clearly. All coincidences insisted that they could happen, pretending to be miracles.       It was Gennarisai, who taught them how to pretend.       Shadows on his withered skin grew like mould, had taken roots, but were not able to hold their ground, when Gennarisai got to his feet, leaning on his wooden staff. He turned out to be taller and looked down at the one, to whom he swore to serve, and even more so at Karamaru.       "Then we will discuss the details later. Would you be so kind, lord Konnokami, to brew the tea in your own unique way for the old crow, before your official inauguration?"       The "old crow" Gennarisai's palm bristled up with self-irony, which left a splinter in a smooth wood. Even his ceremonial staff could understand, that it was not about the broken rules of hospitality, not about the status, even not about his age or the tea itself, which was green with jealousy.       "What is the catch, master Gennarisai?" - Konnokami's tail touched the air lightly like a brush, painting the autumn coolness and wiping out the tracks of suspicions. Those has began to rot already like fallen leaves.       "Try not to spill the tea," - Gennarisai coughed into a fist, as if he caught his own laugh with his palm, squeezed and crunched it. - "Karamaru will show you the way, lord Konnokami"       And, of course, Konnokami did not want to declare, that, in fact, he could smell himself, where exactly the spring with the water so clean, that even thoughts were reflected in it, was located in the shelter. Those thoughts were not always pleasant to look at, or to taste, let alone to think. They were like cockroaches, getting in head of anyone, who approached the spring, cautious of what could float to the surface. And so their thoughts were drowning instantly.       The legendary spring of Mount Tengu was the best in absorbing the flow of magical energies. That fact was flickering like moonlight spots on the surface of Gennarisai's request for tea being brewed "in Konnokami's own unique way". The touch of a real Nine-tailed fox could give the mountain water healing properties, so it would make anyone, who drinks it, stronger both physically and magically for a short time. It could prove his identity and his right to rule. But Gennarisai, of course, had to find out something else.       He said "try not to spill the tea"... did that mean another battle?       Having decided to be cautious and to cross that bridge when he comes to it, Konnokami gallantly held heavy doors for Karamaru, letting him leave the room first. A brass door-knocker bit its tongue from a glance, that was thrown over the shoulder, when the door closed behind them.       "Are you cold?"       Karamaru's wet wings were trembling slightly, and Konnokami's magical energy did not wait for an answer from these confused chilly shoulders. It curved, like a real fox's tail with a warm stream of rising air.       Karamaru only felt a weightless heat on his feathers and on the dense fabric against his skin. It was like summer has come instead of cold, heartless autumn, and held his shoulders, comforting, understanding him. The flowers made of abrupt sparks of energy bloomed in the air, the shooting stars, reflecting in Karamaru's eyes, were so hot, they could leave burns on Konnokami's high cheekbones. What else could have made those blush, when Karamaru turned round and said:       "... thank you, my lord," - having felt dry fabric of the collar with his restless fingers, Karamaru adjusted it, letting Konnokami see a little more of his collarbones, and his eyes fell on them, like foxes are falling fast into a pit-trap. - "I... had been washing my wings at the foot of the waterfall, when I was told to come to meet you at once. I did not have time to change clothes"       Now Karamaru has realised, what was the reason for such an urgent call. Probably, Gennarisai had thought, that Karamaru would look more attractive with wet feathers and the soaked kimono, clinging to his skin, in Konnokami's eyes, since Gennarisai so obviously gave Karamaru the order to seduce the Nine-tailed fox.       And somehow Gennarisai was right about Konnokami's reaction, about his stare and compass needles of his sharp catlike pupils. Their personal north was very hot, indeed.       "Actually, I was not in a hurry at all," - all the magical warmth, scattered through the air, concentrated in one smile and curled up under Konnokami's eyelashes. Clawing at Karamaru's stunning beauty, but wounding only themselves, his eyes were sure that such a bodyguard was worthy of waiting for him. Konnokami have not yet realised, that he has been waiting his whole life for Karamaru.       Having felt that, Karamaru wrapped his kimono closer round him again instinctively. He had been trained as a ninja, not as a geisha, and he was not used to such attention. How did Gennarisai even knew about the Nine-tailed fox's preferences? Although, it was the master's role to know. Any crow ninja's role was to follow the master's commands without questions.       "The strict discipline is the part of life in Karakara clan," - Karamaru moved his wing, flexing his arm, and the walls of the corridor got a mouthful of a delicate rustle on the very tips of his feathers. - "The master's word is an order. The one of the Dark Four's word is an order for everyone, except for the master"       "And what about the Nine-tailed fox's word?"       These crow and fox had very different statuses, strength levels and destinies in general, but their eyes have met again softly like the sun and the other side of the moon. The black smoky circle of an eclipse came forward inevitably with an answer.       "It is an order for all crows, lord Konnokami... from the beginning of time our lives have belonged to the Nine-tailed foxes"       Saying so, Karamaru however could not get rid of the heavy thought, which was contradicting every foundation of the clan. Master Gennarisai considered himself higher and smarter than the Nine-tailed fox, and that playing with fire was hardly worth the candle, if its wax was going to melt first.       "I will protect them," - that fire, crackling quietly in Konnokami's throat, made a sudden promise. The shabby vaults of the shelter did not even know such words, became wary, lent an ear, because, of course, every wall had one.       "What?"       That wall's ear was tin, through, and one bird ruffled his feathers, nearly brushing his wing accidentally against the fox, when turning around with his whole body.       "I mean their lives. Your life," - Konnokami explained to Karamaru calmly the fact, which seemingly did not need any explanation. He was listening to his heart and could hear more than anyone else. - "If the master is too harsh with you, you have the right to ask for my protection, based on your clan's hierarchy, have you not?"       "The master is fair, lord Konnokami," - Karamaru exhaled, having stepped up his pace a little. He decided not to say, that if Gennarisai was indeed harsh, Karamaru would have lost his wings long ago, which was worse than death for a bird. - "We have arrived. Here is the spring of Mount Tengu"