Tasakeru

BOOK III, CHAPTER 2

15 Aug 2009 3 Comments

by BHS in 1st Volume: Sword and Flower, Book III: Soulsnatcher Tags: adventure, animal, anthro, drama, exile, fantasy, fiction, forest, furry, hanami, japanese culture, kemono, mammals, outcast, religion, samurai, soulsnatcher, Tasakeru, web fiction, web serial novel

CHAPTER 2

A game of conquest

And, somewhere in the city,

A theft of a soul

“-THE MOST HOLY RECORD OF THE SILVER ORDER-

YEAR 1549, T4

“This has been a most stressful period… I am beginning to suspect that these Outcast ruffians have untold stores of black magic. Two months ago, we had to protect the populace from hordes of spiders, and now a strange black tower has appeared in the midst of Tasakeru Forest, constructed in a single night. Our investigation into said tower was barred, both by an old wolf acquaintance of my grandmother’s, and by a male of no species we have been able to identify. I shudder to think of what they shall unleash upon us next.

“Fortunately, the old one let us pass once I assured him that we only wished to investigate the phenomena. I do not believe that Grandmother (may Aconite fairly judge her soul) would have appreciated my arresting him. The Knights proceeded to search the tower, and though they detected vast amounts of unknown magic within its walls, not a sentient was to be found inside.

“Of course, unknown magic is typically dangerous magic. I therefore consulted with the mages in attendance, and they agreed that it would be in the interest of the Goddess’ will to destroy the tower entirely. This, however, would prove more taxing than I could have imagined. Though we hacked away with blade and spell for an hour or more, every mark we made upon it healed itself, as if the tower were a living thing. Obviously, destroying this accursed place will require a more concentrated effort.

-        Lady Lily of the Silver House, 52^nd Grand Mistress”

“Faun, I’m not sure about this.”

“C’mon, Flowers! Don’t be so timid. Go ahead and make your move.”

“But what if I-”

“Look, you need to relax. You’re never going to do it if you keep hesitating.”

“But he’s-”

“He’s standing right there, completely off his guard. He’s yours for the taking. Stop dithering and jump him.”

“Oh, all right…” Frowning, Hanami reached out and lifted her scout from its space on the game board. Slowly and carefully, she passed it over the head of Faun’s knight and placed it in the space on the opposite side. She then plucked the knight from its position and dropped it in the pouch that lay on her side of the table.

“All right. You’re sure that’s your move? You’re sure that’s what you want to do?” said Faun, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, I’m positive,” said Hanami, folding her hands in her lap. “It’s your move.”

Faun’s face split into a grin that stretched from ear to pointed ear. In a series of lightning movements, her sage, samurai, and magician fairly flew across the board, leaping over Hanami’s few remaining pieces until all three of them stood staring up at the squirrel, having conquered her side. “Shouri,” said Faun, leaning back in her chair with a victorious smirk. “That’s five-hundred San you owe me.”

Hanami slumped forward onto the table, moaning in agony. “Not again…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. You just need to keep practicing, you’ll get better! Trust me!” The vixen patted her friend on the shoulder and began gathering up the pieces.

“I don’t know how you keep talking me into betting on the outcome,” said Hanami, her voice somewhat muffled as she was speaking into the table. “You always win at this game…”

“It’s called strategic thinking, Flowers.” Faun tapped the side of her head and winked. “That’s the key to any shouri match.”

“Shouri is a noble game that dates back to the early days of Shinboku… the best estimates place its time of origin at around the year 320. (The name, by the way, comes from the word for “conquest” in Old Standard.) Little about it has changed over the centuries: There are eight pieces to a side, one representing each species. Each piece is strong against one and weak against another; every move in the game carries with it both the potential for glory and the risk of defeat. The object is to reach the opponent’s side of the board in as few moves as possible. It takes foresight and flexibility to play, and an aptitude for strategy to master.

“To my utter annoyance, Faun is an undisputed champion of the game. For all the times we have played over the years, I have never won a single match… a record of which she reminds me at every available opportunity.”

[From The Past, The Present, and What Lies Beyond, by Ashpaw Longstripe.]

“I don’t even have five-hundred San!” The words tumbled out of Hanami’s mouth unbidden. Looking mortified, Hanami’s face fell even further, and her ears flattened.

Faun’s victory grin disappeared; she knew that look all too well. “Hey, it’s all right. Don’t worry about it,” she said, patting the squirrel gently on her shoulder. “It’s just a game. C’mon, let’s talk about something else. How are things with Zero?”

Her expression brightened considerably as she looked up. “We’re talking more. And…”

“Yeah?”

“He came over for lunch. Twice.”

Faun slapped the table. “Way to go, Flowers!”

Hanami smiled sheepishly. “It was nothing special, I only had time to make almond salad… but he liked it.”

“He said so?”

“Well, he said ‘Any food tastes good if you can’t so much as boil water without burning it.’ I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not.”

“That sounds like him,” said Faun, chuckling. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that was true. I doubt cooking skills were part of his samurai training.”

Hanami giggled. “I don’t know, you could chop vegetables well enough with one of those swords…”

“Or you could make a nice kebab…”

“Or freeze some flavored ice around it, as long as you were careful not to cut your tongue!”

The matter of the shouri game’s outcome was swiftly forgotten as the two friends dissolved into gales of laughter.

Faun wiped tears from her eyes, tilting back further in her chair on the two rear legs. “Hee… yeah. I’m happy things are going well between you. Thought about taking it further yet?”

The squirrel’s ears turned back, and hurriedly she stood and walked to the kitchen, rummaging in a cabinet for tea leaves. “Faun, that’s not- I’m happy with the way things are now.”

Faun shrugged. “I’m just asking. I don’t think you two should dance around each other so much, that’s all. I mean, you never know when some other male is going to try to jump you…”

Persephone strode quickly down the crowded streets, her arms loaded with potion materials. The rabbit had had an extremely taxing day; Morganite’s Apothecary had been out of flaxweed, and she had walked back and forth to four different stores all across the Shinboku marketplace looking for a fresh supply; she quickly learned that the badgers normally responsible for the flaxweed crop had gone on strike, protesting for higher wages. As a result, she had paid almost quadruple the normal price for one of the few remaining bushels. The rabbit had felt envious eyes watching her every move as she hurried out the door. That nervousness had given way to irritation now; she had wasted two hours on the Godsdamned weed, and she still wasn’t nearly finished with –

“You there… this way!”

Persephone stopped. The voice had whispered to her, carrying over the noise of the hundred other sentients going about their business. It had come from an alleyway off to her right, though she couldn’t see the speaker. For reasons she couldn’t begin to explain, she knew the voice had spoken to her and her alone. Slowly and haltingly she struggled toward the alley, earning savage glares from passersby as she obstructed the flow. Now she was ten paces from the alley… now five, four, three…

An arm emerged from the shadows and grasped her hand. With a gentle tug the arm pulled her free of the bustling crowd, into the cool, blessed quiet of the alley. Breathing a sigh of relief, Persephone put down her packages and brushed a few strands of her dark hair from her forehead. “Thank you,” she said, glancing upward at her rescuer. “I didn’t know how I would ever-”

She stopped, her pale eyes widening in surprise and fear. The wolf holding her hand had an unnerving appearance, thin and wiry but still muscular. His hair was black, long and stringy, hanging over his brow to obscure his eyes. The wolf had no tribal markings except for a bright red, jagged slash across his chest, as if he had been attacked by a berserk painter. There was something strange attached to his left arm, perhaps a piece of ceremonial jewelry, but she couldn’t make out just what it was. However odd the rest of his appearance was, it was the way he smiled that sent shivers down Persephone’s spine… like a snake preparing to strike. “You’ll never get to where you’re going in that crowd,” he said, indicating the busy street behind her. “Come with me, I know a better way.”

Trying to calm a sudden wave of inexplicable panic, Persephone swallowed and stood up straight. “Who are you?”

The wolf tapped his chin. “That is an interesting question.”

She blinked in surprise. “It is?”

“Oh, yes. A week ago, I would have told you that I was a wolf named Ares… but then the most extraordinary thing happened…”

She couldn’t help herself; her curiosity was piqued. “What was that?”

“I died,” said the wolf simply.

The rabbit’s long ears stood up straight, and a leaden weight dropped into her stomach. “Y-You…” she stammered.

“Died, yes.” He was grinning as he said it, as if he had just commented on the weather; Persephone found that obscene. “At least I think I died. Or Ares did, I do not know. His memories are within me still, but clouded. So perhaps I am not Ares, but someone different… better.”

The rabbit swallowed, drawing back against the alley wall. “Please, I need to go…”

“I suppose you may call me… Stalker,” said the wolf, nodding. “Yes, that is a good name. I am Stalker. And you are?”

Persephone was preparing to run for her life, to get as far away from this creature as possible… but then she happened to glance into the wolf’s eyes. All but his pupils were tinted red, and those eyes stared at her with a strange power, a hunger… The rabbit’s body froze. His eyes were locked with hers, she couldn’t tear her gaze away… Her lips parted unbidden to answer his question. “Persephone,” she breathed.

“Persephone,” said the wolf with a smile, drawing closer. “What a lovely name. Tell me, Persephone… do you love your mother?”

She would have blinked, but she found herself unable. “Wh-what? Of course I do!”

“And if your mother were murdered, would you try to avenge her?”

Inside her head, Persephone was screaming, but the only sound she could make was to answer his question. “Yes,” she said, shivering.

Stalker drew very close to her, his hands roaming her paralyzed body. “Of course you would. They killed my mother… the Outcasts did.” His tone was livid, but still he smiled.

“The Outcasts?” Whether she was more terrified or confused, she didn’t know. The wolf was touching her carefully, looking for something.

“Indeed. And her children, my spirit brothers and sisters. I must save my mother, and avenge my slain bretheren… and you shall help me, Persephone.” He was now close enough that she could feel his hot breath upon her neck.

Persephone trembled, tears forming in her dark eyes. “Let me go… please, I-” The plea died in her mouth and her mind wailed in terror as Stalker opened his hand wide. There was a yawning hole like a mouth in his palm, blacker than even the shadows of the alleyway. As he placed the hand just below her breast, she felt a pull, something drawn from her… It felt as if every thought and every emotion were being siphoned away, spiraling down to nothing…The paralysis that gripped her body loosened just enough for her to let out a small, strangled cry. Whatever it was he was stealing from her, it seemed to take an eternity, like she could have felt a hundred years worth of mindless fear in the space of one second…

Persephone slumped against the wall, utterly drained… of what, she didn’t know. Through half-lidded eyes, she saw a tiny, flickering white glow hovering in front of her, like the flame of a candle. Sluggishly she reached for the flame, only for the wolf to catch it between his claws. The rabbit’s mouth moved, trying to form words. “Wh… what…”

“Your soul,” whispered Stalker. “Everything that you are. You have offered the greatest of all gifts to my mother… and she graciously accepts your sacrifice. Farewell, Persephone.”

Persephone? Was that her name? She was no longer sure… It seemed familiar, but the wolf was gone, melted back into the darkness of the alley before she could ask him. It felt like this should have bothered her, but she felt oddly calm, halfway between sleep and consciousness. In a short while, she forgot both the wolf and the name he had called her.

An hour later, cries of terror split the alley’s silence. An elderly ferret had just stumbled upon the prone body of a dark-haired female rabbit, sitting motionless against the wall of the alley. The Silver Order arrived quickly, drawn to the noise. A mixed group of knights and healers flooded the small space, their lanterns held high to cast away the gloom.

“She’s alive…” said one of the healers after performing a brief examination, during which the rabbit did not move or even blink.

The knights’ field commander lifted the visor of her helmet, revealing a pair of startlingly green eyes and a black-and-white-striped face. “What happened to her?” said the skunk. “Is she comatose?”

Baffled, the healer shook his head. “I… I don’t know, Milady. That would have been my guess. Whatever is wrong with her, she’s wide awake, but totally non-responsive. Almost like… her mind is gone.”

The skunk grimaced. “‘Gone’, Topaz? How could her mind be ‘gone?’ Where would it go?”

Topaz shrugged uselessly. “It’s a mystery to me, Milady.”

One of the other knights came to the leader’s side, saluting sharply. “Lady Nadeshiko, ma’am, we have a stretcher on the way. The Order’s infirmary has been informed as well.”

“Good.” Nadeshiko nodded curtly. “Send word to my mother as well… she needs to know of this.”

The knight stared, forgetting her protocol for a moment. “L-Lady Lily, ma’am? Are you sure we should bother her with-”

“I am quite certain Lady Lily will want to hear of this,” Nadeshiko snapped. “This was likely done by black magic. If that is the case, it is our duty to find and destroy its source, in the Goddess’s name.” Nadeshiko removed her gleaming white helmet, her silvery, braided hair falling free. She fixed the knight with a steely glare. “Tell Mother that her ‘friend’ may be involved with this. She’ll know what I mean.”

The knight shuddered, saluted, and ran off into the dark, keeping a tight grip on her broadsword.

Less than two hours later, news of the attack had been sent to message scrolls across Sankami. Sentients of every species gazed in horror at the script flowing across their parchment as if written by an invisible hand… Speaking on behalf of the entire Order, Lady Lily urged everyone to remain calm and avoid venturing out alone, assuring the public that the culprit would soon be captured.

In an ancient, moss-covered cabin somewhere in Tasakeru, a pair of russet eyes watched those words forming on his own scroll. Drake was troubled… something about this incident deeply disturbed him. The white wolf’s doubts were not dissuaded by the small box upon the scroll that indicated he had received a private message from the sender. It read, simply:

“Drake,

We must talk. Come to Shinboku immediately. Do not make me force you.

-        Lily”

END OF CHAPTER 2

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