Ushio & Tora Fan Fiction ❯ A Truce Of Moons ❯ Chapter 3

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

A Truce of Moons

Chapter 3

By Ysabet

So quiet. It was so very quiet.

Ushio stood facing his audience, the Kemono No Yari held point-up
before him; he could feel the weight of many unfriendly gazes..... big
surprise there. After all, what was he to the bakemonotachi around
him? Judge, jury and executioner, that was what. Coming here had NOT
been a good idea.....

This really sucked.

Directly behind him he could hear Tora's claws crunching in the gravel
underfoot. The monster stood only a few feet back; every now and then
tendrils of burnt-orange mane blew forward in the bonfire's heat,
wrapping the Spearbearer in a thin, glittering veil. Ushio could hear
him breathing, could smell the dark, musky scent of the bakemono
behind him.

Tora liked challenges; a confrontation like this was probably second
nature to him. But he was a centuries-old monster-beast, not a
fifteen-year-old boy..... So many eyes, watching them: green and
golden, scarlet glows, thin slits, burning coals on tentacles, tiny
gleams in twos and threes----- Ushio could feel the sweat running down
his back. So he stood quietly, staring back.

Let the monsters think what they wanted; the Spearbearer wasn't going
to show his fear if he could help it. But this *still* really sucked.

Tora spoke then, so close behind him that his breath disturbed the
hairs on the back of Ushio's neck. "I have not been among you for some
time now, so I will give you my name. I am Nagatobimaru-dono, and I
hold the region which contains the human city of Tokyo." This caused a
faint stir among the creatures before them, but no-one said anything
yet. The ancient bakemono began to walk slowly around the bonfire as
he spoke, his claws scattering pebbles; every now and then a tiny
spark of lightning would crackle from talon to talon, bright in the
shadows.

Ushio stood very still, waiting; his black cloak of hair drifted
around him in the bonfire's hot breath. The small of his back itched,
and he concentrated on not squirming; that would be..... uncool. He
had to keep calm, had to keep still.

"I have been away for some time from my domain; it pleases me that
none have tried to take it while I was gone." Tora/Nagatobimaru looked
coolly around the clearing as he paced, cold silver eyes
expressionless. "... Or so I understand. Will any dispute this with
me?" He smiled, and there was a deadly promise in that smile; it
widened a little as the silence continued. The monster's tail lashed
as he padded forward, circling the fire.

"Well; I am back. To those within my domain, I say this: It matters to
me not at all how you live, what you do; live as humans for all I
care, or live as bakemono. That is nothing to me." He spat abruptly on
the sand and several creatures jumped. "Why should I give a damn? Your
lives are your own, as is mine..... Do as you will. I am no
magistrate, to count your numbers or collect fealty from any of you."

Now there were murmurs from among the crowd, seemingly of approval;
The Spearbearer shifted his weight very slightly, wondering where this
was going. Tora/Nagatobimaru was moving towards him now, his path
circling the flames as if closing in on prey; the Spearbearer felt him
pad softly past, felt him pause.....

"But I have heard a thing this night that is..... incorrect. You---"
and the ancient bakemono looked steadily at the previous speaker,
still standing to one side of the clearing with its arms folded; "---
you have said that the Spearbearer is something that concerns us all."
The scarlet and black creature gave a curt nod of agreement;
Tora/Nagatobimaru stared it down, eyes slitted. He stepped forward
heavily to stand beside Ushio, who gripped the Spear a little tighter.

"Not so. It is MY concern. The Spearbearer is *mine* to deal with!"

THAT got results; growls and hisses all around the clearing. Several
of the creatures in the shadows further back moved a little closer in;
Ushio could see them a little better now. *These* were some of the
more frightening bakemonotachi, ones with more talons than hands and
more mouths than eyes..... They shuffled in, watching, watching. One
of the smaller ones, a thing composed almost completely of eyes,
rasped out: "Why yours only? It hunts us, we kill it!" It drifted in
place, long tendrils twitching where they hung beneath in its shadow.
Ushio could feel his muscles tensing, his lips beginning to draw back
from his teeth; keeping still was a harder battle than fighting could
ever be.....

Beside him Tora/Nagatobimaru shrugged nonchalantly; "Well enough.
But-----" and Ushio could feel the force of Tora's baleful gaze as the
monster turned to look down on him--- " this one is responsible for my
return; he is mine to deal with.... That is also among our few rules,
is it not? Bakemonotachi within a territory are dealt with by those
who hold the territory--- why the hell else do such as *we* have
territories at all?" Tora sat back on his haunches and crossed his
arms; now he was looking out over the crowd.

There were stirrings and a few disgruntled murmurs from the edges, as
well as grunts of agreement; Ushio could hear small arguments breaking
out here and there between some of the entities. He could also see
Rikone; her brothers were sitting beside her now, their eyes huge in
the firelight.... and, yes, there were her parents, one on either side
of their children.

A little to the left of the kitsune family a skeletal Samurai-type
spoke up in hollow, distant tones that sounded like they had been
dredged up from the bottom of a well. "Bakemonotachi......
Nagatobimaru-dono, Honored Sir, you speak of the Spearbearer as one of
us; but he is *human*, is he not?" And it turned empty sockets to
stare at Ushio; the temple boy returned its gaze in silence as the
mutterings from the crowd grew louder. He'd wondered when this would
come up; *Great,* thought the boy glumly. *I'm something's dinner for
certain now. This REALLY sucks.* Well, he wouldn't go down easily. He
stood up a little straighter, slit-pupiled eyes narrowing.

The arguments were beginning to grow louder and things were getting
ugly; to one side, the magistrate in charge of the moon-truce clapped
his hands sharply. "Be still! Lord Nagatobimaru is speaking now; those
who wish to silence him or speak in his place must challenge him--- Do
any choose to do so?" As the hubub quieted a little, he nodded to
Tora/Nagatobimaru, who had been simply sitting back, watching with an
exasperated scowl on his firelit face. The monster gave a short laugh
and spoke again:

"Human? Hehh..... Look at him, you. Does he *look* human?!? And do you
truly believe--- any of you!--- that *I* would allow a human with
power like *that* to remain alive in MY territory?!?" The bakemono
snorted briefly, teeth flashing white. The noise of the crowd died
back bit by bit to near-silence; the crackle of the bonfire was
clearly audible. After a moment the skeletal samurai spoke once more,
its hollow tones echoing against the rocks. "Honored Sir, you have
spoken; we have spoken. But the Spearbearer has not spoken; has he
anything to say to us?"

Ushio rocked back a little onto his heels, his face paling; *he* had
to talk?!? Great..... but he supposed it was better than being torn to
bits. Beside him Tora/Nagatobimaru stepped back somewhat, a sardonic
look in his silver eyes. He grunted briefly in approval, but his tail
lashed back and forth a time or two. "RRrrrrrrhhrrrrrrr...... You have
a point. Speak then, Spearbearer; what have you to say in this manner?
Are you human or bakemono?" And he looked Ushio full in the face.

Just what could be read in those silver eyes? They were *so* very
inhuman sometimes, full of things that 15-year-old boys had no
experience with or empathy for; but right now..... What were they
telling him now? Fear? Hatred? Concern? What? The huge striped face
was impassive, as terrible as ever; but Ushio saw something there that
he would almost call *entreaty*. Tora.... wanted something from him.

Ushio thought hard for a moment, sweating, then drew himself up to his
full height and tried see himself as the watching bakemonotachi were
seeing him: a figure out of their legends, dressed in dark garments
and cloaked with black, black hair, with shining eyes and sharp
teeth----- and then there was that terrible Spear.....

From the way things sounded, little bakemonotachi went to bed at night
and had bad dreams about the Kemono No Yari. Did monster mothers tell
their young ones "Do what I say or the Spearbearer will come and get
you"?

Ushio drew a deep breath and looked out again over the audience,
gripping the Spear with damp palms. For a moment, it seemed that his
voice had caught in his throat like a fishbone; but then something
loosened, and he began. "I am Aotsuki Ushio-dono, and I'm the bearer
of the Kemono No Yari. And, yes, I was born human." Silence,
punctuated by a single barely-audible growl from somewhere out in the
darkness.

"Whatever I am now--- well; I don't think any human would recognize me
as one of theirs. So..... Maybe I am one of you, in a way. Right now,
at least; most humans would think so. Nagatobimaru-dono---" and Ushio
glanced sideways at Tora, "--- told me earlier that, to you, *I* am a
monster. I don't know--- it's hard to say where 'human' ends and
'Spearbearer' begins." He shifted the Spear so that it lay crosswise
in front of him, gripped tightly in each hand. The red streamers
fluttered as a cool wind passed across the bonfire, sweeping sparks up
in a sheet of stars; more than one set of eyes followed their flight.

"Tonight I came with Lord Nagatobimaru willingly, as a guest; he
didn't force me to come, and he told me your rules. I've obeyed them
just as you have-----"

There was a clacking hiss from across the clearing from the red and
black creature that had spoken previously; its coils shifted and
slithered, bright scales reflecting the firelight as it reared up,
arms crossed. "----You are NOT one of us, human! You are *food* to
many of us!!" It hissed again, showing its mandibles.
"We-do-NOT-accept-you!! We--------- !!"

It froze; the Spear had shifted of its own accord in Ushio's hands and
was pointing directly at it. Mouth still open, the creature swallowed
its words and sank back on its coils a little, still glaring.

After a possibly-polite pause, Ushio continued rather mildly. ".....
As I said, I have obeyed your rules..... And so has the Kemono No
Yari." He shifted the Spear to his right hand so that it stood between
himself and Tora/Nagatobimaru, who was watching very calmly. "Don't
think that just because I'm the Spearbearer the Spear will always do
what I want; it's got its own ideas." As if in answer, the Kemono No
Yari rang softly; the warning tones throbbed above the bonfire's
crackle like a moan of protest, and Ushio knew that (for once) every
being there could hear them.

The tones died away, and silence returned. The skeletal Samurai who
had spoken before cleared its throat (Ushio found himself wondering
just what with) and sighed like a rattle of dead leaves.
"AAhhhhhhh...... Then there are *three* here who should speak; what
then would the Kemono No Yari have to say?" And tiny cold lights shown
in the darkened pits of its eye-sockets..... Around the circle there
was a drawing back, a movement full of fear and dread (from monsters!
With the tiny bit of his mind that wasn't concentrating on keeping
calm, Ushio marveled at this); a faint wailing rose from something
small and wispy cradled in a barely-visible wraith's arms as it fled
away in terror.

All eyes were on the Spear, and it responded with its own voice: at
first a soft, shivering moan like before, then a deep, rising hum like
God's own base guitar---- growing, growing, crackling with energy-----

----- crackling indeed; a corona of lightning began to coruscate
around the Spear's blade, filling the air with miniature thunder and
the scent of ozone. Creatures along the edge of the clearing were
panicking and scrambling back away from the terrible thing by the
bonfire; even Tora/Nagatobimaru was drawing away, his mane throwing
back its own sparks in answer to the Spear's lightning. His eyes were
very wide, great silver mirrors reflecting what he and all the other
bakemonotachi saw: the Spearbearer, still holding the Kemono No Yari,
wreathed in a brilliant tangle of thin threads of power that grounded
themselves all around him in a scatter of blue fire-----

----- and then Ushio ran his hands along the shaft of the Spear,
stroking it soothingly, holding it in both hands; he swept one palm
across the blade through the curtain of lightning as if calming an
angry beast, and the storm and outcry lessened, lowered, calmed,
died......

Quiet again, broken by harsh breathing in the darkness, and by the
faint crackle of cooling glass where the power had earthed around
Ushio; the scents of ozone and scorched earth hung thick in the air.

The Spearbearer held the Spear before him; it was silent now, but
there was a definite feeling in the air of barely-suppressed thunder;
every creature there could sense it. He drew a deep breath. "As I
said..... It's got its own ideas. If I wasn't its bearer--- if it
could do what it liked--- you'd all be dead."

Ushio gave his audience a moment to allow that to sink in, and then
spoke again very calmly. "Now..... If I am *not* one of you, and if
I'm just a human, by your rules you could kill me tonight. Or you
could try, anyway....." And he smiled, or maybe just bared his sharp
teeth; it was hard to tell, even to himself.

"On the other hand..... If I'm something like one of *you*, at least
while I'm the Spearbearer, then I can't kill any of YOU tonight.
That's from your own rules, right?" And he stared directly at the
scarlet and black snake-man as he spoke, who glowered back a little
less defiantly than before.

"One thing you had better understand: I don't belong to
Nagatobimaru-dono, and he doesn't belong to me. I'm not his, his
*subject*, or anything like that. We live in the same territory--- and
if anything comes looking to take over, I'll defend it. Come to think
of it, we'd better make something else clear: Humans are *my*
territory!! Try to kill them or do anything else to them while I'm
around, and you'll have to deal with me." Ushio crossed his arms,
glaring and baring his teeth a little. Mutters from the crowd were
more subdued than he would have expected, but there were still quite a
number of defiant looks from creatures here and there.....

And yet..... He saw approving nods and definite looks of relief; some
of the entities seemed *glad* that he had cleared that little matter
up.

Ushio sighed; the rush of adrenaline was beginning to fade, and with
it the crazy moment of strength that had gotten him through his ordeal
(he would decide later that speaking in front of class would never be
quite as traumatic as it had been). He thumped the butt of the Spear a
bit impatiently on the ground before him, making a few bakemonotachi
jump. "Well? Which is it? What am I to you?"

The silence that followed was broken by a deep, harsh chuckle.
Tora/Nagatobimaru was laughing softly, his white teeth reflecting the
light of the fire. He stretched cat-limber there on the sands, great
claws working; then, tossing his mane back from his face, he turned to
the original magistrate-in-charge and said calmly:

"Well?"

The many-eyed creature walked slowly out onto the sands, carefully
positioning itself at a good distance from both Ushio and Tora--- and
from the Spear. With appreciable dignity it spoke. "I speak only for
myself, but I must agree--- you have bided by our laws, Spearbearer,
and you seem very little like a human to this personage just now." The
fire was beginning to burn low, and the red embers reflected in the
eyes on the backs of its hands as it spread them wide before it. "Will
any others speak in this matter?"

After a pause, the skeletal Samurai climbed to its feet with a rattle
of ancient armor. "Honored ones, it seems to me that all here are
bakemonotachi, and all must abide by our laws." The hollow tones
echoed through the clearing, cold as windchimes in the dark; but the
empty sockets that looked out at the Spearbearer weren't really so
unkind, just very black.

Silence then for a few moments; then a soft voice spoke from not too
far from Ushio. "I have seen, I have listened; and it is my belief
that he is as much one of us at least as he is a human." It was
Rikone's mother--- Ushio was startled to hear a woman's voice pass
from the jaws of a fox; her husband was giving her a startled look,
and Rikone and her brothers were frozen in place. The kitsune leaned
forward as she spoke, her golden eyes intent on Ushio's face. "And, my
Lords and Ladies and others, from what we have just seen--- is it not
a good thing to have one who has at least *something* in common with
us bearing the Kemono No Yari? You---" and she pointed with one
long-fingered paw at Ushio; "--- you seem to have no hatred of us,
ne?"

The Spearbearer shrugged; "No, I don't hate you--- and I've no reason
to harm *any* of you unless you tresspass on MY territory: human
lives. Leave humans alone, and I'll leave you all alone. Hell, that's
pretty simple, isn't it?"

She stared him down sternly, and Ushio immediately regretted his
rudeness (mothers never forgot that sort of thing, did they?) The
kitsune shook her head; "I doubt that *all* here intend to forego
human prey; you'll have to deal with that as it happens..... as
bakemono always deal with trespasses on their territory....."

Ushio shrugged again. "Fine." The kitsune woman sat back, satisfied;
her husband gave her a single scandalized glance and then turned to
stare at Rikone. The foxgirl spread her dark-furred hands wide in an
'I-don't-get-it-either' gesture and shook her head.

Another moment's pause, then a deep, rumbling voice spoke from over
most of the entities' heads: "Well, Lords and Ladies and all, I
suppose I should speak my piece." The language was reasonably
understandable (with the occasional odd slang), but the accent made
Ushio blink; it sounded like the american actor John Wayne, of all the
unbelievable---- Who in the world was THAT? Then he looked up----- Oh.
The giant leaned on his pillar of stone and adjusted the set of his
baseball cap before he spoke again. "I'm a visitor here from the
'States, and I've been having a pretty good time tonight; this has
been real entertaining! But I've got a question for you guys." He
poked a large thumb at Tora.

"From what I hear, you two should be mortal enemies; but you're living
in the same territory? How the sam-hell are you handling *that*? Why
aren't you trying to kill each other?" He cocked an interested eyebrow
at them both; his gold earring glinted in the light of the bonfire's
dying embers.

Ushio looked at Tora, raising one eyebrow; Tora looked at Ushio, then
at the Spear; several options seemed to pass through his mind before
he spoke.

"How we deal with it is our own concern. If anyone tries to eat the
Spearbearer before *I* get to him, they will deal with me....." The
bakemono lifted his head and looked upwards a little distantly,
following the flight of sparks towards the heavens as if the question
was no great matter.

The Spearbearer snorted then, crossing his arms defiantly. He looked
out over the creatures in the darkness, frowning; "And T-- I mean,
Nagatobimaru-dono's MY problem----- I released him, and I'll handle
him..... It's really nobody's business but ours, right? Right."

The giant grinned down with broad, white teeth; he seemed pleased.
Less pleased was the scarlet-and-black figure that reared up, coils
twitching and fists clenching. It clacked its jaws angrily and began
an invective-laden tirade which sputtered into incoherency when the
magistrate in charge turned to stare coldly down at it (and with that
many eyes, he had staring down pat). It finally wound down like a
broken toy, muttering angrily as it pushed off into the crowd.

Resting the Spear on his shoulder, Ushio shook his head with a gesture
of finality and looked at Tora; the ancient bakemono shrugged once and
began pacing back towards his seat on the sands; Rikone's brothers
hurriedly made room for him there. The Spearbearer nodded once to
himself, then followed. With dignity he took his place back on his
boulder..... and then hugged his arms to keep himself from trembling.
Adrenaline was a thing of the past now and reaction was setting in.

But he was alive.....

Ushio sat back silently, savoring that fact as another bakemono took
its place before the dying fire and began to speak.

******************************************

It was near moonset now, and dawn wasn't too far away. The crowd had
diminished; quite a number of monsters had come to speak before the
bonfire before wandering off afterwards. The firewood had been
replenished once but the flames were flickering back down into a bed
of embers once again, and the sweet smell of pine woodsmoke hung in
the pre-dawn air. On his boulder, Ushio stretched and considered the
kinks in his back and legs; being the Spearbearer might give you a
tough hide and tougher muscles, but you still could get a stiff neck
if you sat still too long. And he thought his butt had gone to sleep,
too.

Rikone and her family had been rather quiet after all the fuss had
been over; the foxgirl had silently passed him another soda
eventually, but she seemed quite subdued. Her two brothers had stared
at Ushio, their eyes large, their ears back (but their mother.... she
had just smiled a little at him, the very tip of her tail twitching
slightly).

Tora lay like a great orange statue on the sands, eyes half-slitted
and distant; every now and then he had made a comment to one of the
speakers (who had seemed rather nervous around him; imagine that), but
otherwise he had been silent. At last, when the moon had lost half its
width below the treetops, the bonfire suddenly went out--- totally.
Ushio started a bit, but around him the remaining creatures seemed to
take this as a matter of course and a certain sign that the night was
over. Beside him Tora yawned; the ancient bakemono stretched a long,
long stretch and stood silently. Still rubbing at the kinks in the
small of his back, Ushio followed suit; God, what a long night it had
been.....

Shouldering the Spear, he turned to the kitsune family; the two boys
were gathering up their belongings (and the litter of soda-cans),
supervised by their watchful parents; Ushio grinned a little in
sympathy as one of the foxboys (Yukio, he thought; they looked a lot
alike) rolled his eyes at a barked parental command. The kitsune boy
caught this and smiled back hesitantly, but his eyes still strayed to
the weapon on the Spearbearer's shoulder. Oh well..... Ushio sighed a
little sadly and gave the family his best bow before turning away.
Then a soft voice said: ".... Ushio-dono....." and he looked back.

Rikone was standing there, her russet-and-white fur catching the grey
light of false dawn; in the faint glow she looked less real, more
wraith-like than she had in the darkness of full night. But she was
smiling shyly, and as he watched her figure seemed to shimmer, to
shift and reform until a very young woman with slanted golden eyes and
deep red hair stood before Ushio, still smiling. "..... Take care,
Spearbearer..... and I'll see you next year." She bowed formally, her
features blurring and melting back into the foxface that was her true
countenance. Then she turned to walk silently away with her family,
never once looking back.

Ushio just stood there, feeling his heart thumping a little harder.
What----?!? Huh. That had been.... nice. Maybe he *would* see her at
the next year's moon-truce..... if he was still alive. With the
eternal optimism of any 15-year-old, he grinned to himself as he began
thinking about it.....

His thoughts were broken by a rough chuckle and the familiar prickle
of sharp claws on one shoulder; Tora was standing directly behind him,
laughing at his discomfort. "Heh..... So you've made a conquest, have
you, Lord Brat? Better watch it....." said the bakemono, grinning
widely. Ushio snorted. "Butt out, jerk. I don't know what the hell
you're talking about." He could feel his ears beginning to burn. Tora
just laughed again, sounding remarkably pleased with himself.

Side by side they each began to walk towards the woods beyond the
clearing; around them the crowd was more than half dispersed,
creatures leaving on foot or in flight or simply fading like morning
mist. The Spearbearer lifted his head to see the same scarlet-and-blue
bat things that he had seen when arriving wing past; well damn, he had
never gotten around to asking about those, had he?

Ushio rubbed a hand across his face; his eyes felt dry and gritty, and
the effort of keeping them open was almost too much to bother with. He
dragged his feet a little as they walked, nearly bumping into a
departing something-or-other with tattered, many-layered robes (they
were probably robes.... or maybe just skin; who knew?). The
whatever-it-was muttered something that might have been an apology and
shuffled past, intent on its own departure.

The sky was beginning to lighten; already the charcoal of predawn was
beginning to shade into the golden white of sunrise. Ushio shouldered
the Spear a little more securely as they stepped into the shadows of
the trees, following the streambed back the way they had come. *Huh*
he thought tiredly; *That seems more like a year ago, not just a
single night. Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.* Behind them
the last stragglers seemed to be leaving--- he wondered how Rikone and
her family would travel back to their home (*and dammit, that was one
*more* thing I never got around to asking: Where she lived! Shit!*)---
on two feet, or four? Or otherwise? Ushio concentrated on his own
movements, sweeping the lengths of his hair around so he could bundle
it in his arms--- it had a tendancy to catch on branches or get walked
on if he didn't watch out.

*God, what a night* he thought, wobbling as he stepped from one
boulder to another. Ushio glanced up at Tora; the bakemono was a
little ahead of him, padding softly along the streambed with hardly
any sound. The Spearbearer frowned to himself thoughtfully; there had
been this little matter in the back of his mind all night that they
needed to discuss.......

"Hey, Tora. Got something I've been wanting to ask you about." The
monster did not turn around. "What is is?" he answered back rather
absently.

Ushio brought the Spear around to hold in both hands, using it to keep
his balance on a particularly tricky bit of boulder-hopping.
"Well..... Why'd we do this? I mean, I understand about seeing what
was what, and who holds what territory and all that---- but......" He
shoved his hair back irritably, concentrating on his footing. ".....
You could've probably found out about that sort of thing some other
way, couldn't you?" The bakemono made no answer, but looked sideways
back at Ushio; his silver eyes gleamed with something like amusement
in the shadows.

".....And--- why bring me? You had to know there'd be some sort of
fight, what with me being the Spearbearer. What the hell was with
that, anyway? Trying to get me killed?" The boy scowled at the
monster, who stopped in his tracks and turned, pointing a
sharp-taloned finger straight at Ushio's face.

He growled out: "I TOLD them, boy, and I told YOU: *No-one kills you
before me!!*" Tora glared down into the Spearbearer's angry eyes-----
then flinched back and snarled as the Spearbearer swatted the flat of
his weapon against the side of his huge head, THWACK!!!

For a moment they glared each other there in the streambed, the
bakemono and the temple boy; then, as if the confrontation had never
happened, the two turned at one accord to continue side-by-side on
their way. Looking straight ahead, Tora continued: ".....
Hhhraahhhhrrrr..... there *was* another reason---" and he shrugged.
"There are many among the bakemonotachi who know of me, and of that
damned Spear----- and of the Spearbearer. Trying to hold a territory
while *allowing you both to exist in it unchallenged*...... Not
possible. No bakemono would do that. So......." he trailed off,
sounding a little embarrassed.

Ushio picked it up, feeling angrier than ever. ".....so you brought me
here to get the bakemonotachi to see me as one of them? So you
wouldn't look like an asshole in front of them?!? So you wouldn't
*lose face*?!?" He aimed another blow at the monster, a harder one
this time. "GodDAMN it, Tora!!"

The bakemono ducked, shoving him away. "Idiot!! What else could I
do?...... Well, besides eat you, that is? You had to be seen as one of
us, or others would come to kill us both!!! You, because you are the
Spearbearer; and me, because they would see me as weak enough to let
you live!!!" He growled in the back of his throat as he continued
walking; the growl had words in it that were probably best unheard.

Ushio growled back a little, but his anger was dying; he supposed Tora
had a point. As he trudged along the streambed, he thought about the
things that had *not* been said, not by either of them: That Tora
could've probably killed him..... That Tora hadn't killed him.....
That, maybe, it was better not to talk about this out loud. There were
some things better left unsaid, some confrontations that should never
happen.

Otherwise..... Well. Best to let it go at that.

They walked on, and the Spearbearer finally allowed himself a moment
to shift back to his human self (he guessed they were far enough away
for it to be safe). This was the longest that he had stayed in his
other form; it felt wierd being just..... Ushio. As the lengths of
black hair slid towards the ground and faded into ash, he shivered a
bit--- All in all, everything that he had said before the bonfire had
been the truth: he wasn't really *completely* human, not while he was
like that, sharp-toothed and slit-eyed..... The temple boy ran a
single strand of disintegrating black hair through his fingers as it
crackled into dust (convenient, that; better than leaving heaps of
hair all over the place).

Being human..... it wasn't really so different, he supposed. Rikone
and her family, for instance; despite all their fur and tails and
shapechanging, were they really that unlike the human beings he had
known all his life? Different upbringings and ancestry, sure, but
beyond that..... Rikone had been pretty cute, too--- human-faced *and*
fox-faced. For a moment Ushio considered that thought, grinning a
little; then a vision of Asako crept before his mind's eye and he
flinched, imagining her reaction to his, well, his 'flirting' the
previous night. Knowing Asako, she would probably beat the snot out of
him and then become the best of friends with the kitsune, and then the
two of them would walk off arm-in-arm discussing how horrible boys
were..... Ouch.

They had reached the spot where they had landed the night before, and
Ushio slid up onto Tora's back without a word (he never said
anything--- Tora would probably dump him from a fatally-high altitude
if he did). As they lifted slowly above the treetops, the temple boy
looked over his shoulder; there was the clearing, there was the spire
the giant had leaned against (*... and how the HELL did *that* guy
manage to arrive in Japan unnoticed?*), there was the ring of the
bonfire, black against the sand..... Huh. What a night.

The wind was rising with the sun; as Ushio settled himself on the
bakemono's back it sent a storm of Tora's mane up to flutter wildly
around him, wrapping him once more in a cloak of fine, amber hair. He
brushed it from his face and eased himself down against the warm fur a
little more comfortably, trying to keep from digging his heels in
(Tora usually ignored him while they flew, but no use taking chances
after all). As he settled back, he heard: ".....And what did you think
of the bakemonotachi, ehh?"

The Spearbearer hesitated a moment, thinking. Then, resting his chin
on the haft of the Spear lying crosswise before him, he said softly:
"Mostly, I think they were pretty much..... people. Not very *nice*
people, some of them--- and I think there were quite a few that're
just too, well, *alien* to be really something I'd understand--- but
lots of them were pretty much like the people I know back home. I
mean, that kitsune family--- I go to school with guys just like Yukio
and Hayaiko, and Rikone reminded me of Asako a bit....." Beneath him
the monster chuckled; he turned his head a little to one side so he
could look back at Ushio from one silver eye. "The sharp-voiced girl
would make a good bakemono" he said rather mildly; the boy pointedly
ignored this and continued.

"I think..... good or bad or whatever, they weren't *that* different.
Most of them, anyway. They all just wanted to live..... Though I did
wonder about a few of them, that skeleton-samurai, for instance. What
was up with him?" Ushio looked down at Tora's back; it shrugged at
him.

"Ahhhhhrrr. That one..... A hungry ghost, one who died in battle and
could not leave off his warring----- I remember him from about six or
seven hundred years ago....." Ushio shivered; he had been raised on
stories of the terrible hungry ghosts that lurked outside in the
darkness--- and now he had seen one. Of course, he had also seen a
giant, and fox-spirits, and a kuma, and any amount of unnameable
things with too many mouths..... Not to mention a stupid orange ass of
a bakemono who was too full of himself.

The bakemono in question stretched his arms wide, rising up higher
above the green sea of treetops; the sun was beginning to warm the
air, and he wanted to reach the cooler heights before the day got too
hot. He glanced back idly at the Spearbearer, who lay looking
thoughtfully off into the distance. "Want to go again next year, Lord
Brat?"

"Sure. But next time I'm bringing something to eat with me." The
Spearbearer's stomach growled painfully; a night without food was
*not* on his list of favorite things..... He almost regretted not
trying the fried mice that Rikone and her brothers had offered him.
Almost----- but not quite.

Beneath him the bakemono laughed; he increased his speed, their
combined shadow flicking across the landscape below like a water
droplet sliding across glass. Ushio gripped the tawny fur a little
tighter, ducking his head and allowing the wind to sheet across him;
he closed his eyes, enjoying the wild rush of flight.

Humans and bakemonotachi..... It was like he had said earlier: they
all just wanted to live. He could understand their fear of the Kemono
No Yari--- it was *their* nightmare, as he himself was *their*
monster. Who could tell? Perhaps they could manage to ignore their
fears enough to allow them *all* to live..... And if not--- he would
just have to deal with that when it happened. No compromises there.

If he and Tora could do it, well, maybe the others could too.

The Spearbearer settled himself down on Tora's back, watching the new
day unfold before his eyes.

************************************************************ **********
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YSABET'S NOTES: This one was a bit harder to write than the others---
no big fight scenes, LOTS of talking, lots of wierd critters to think
up (though that was fun)...... I just got to wondering: How would you
deal with your neighbors if you were a bakemono or an akuma or oni or
whatever? What kind of structure would've evolved down the ages? When
you get reading the manga, you find out that they have territories set
up and suchlike. Interesting..... So I had fun with the idea. Hope you
liked it--- please review! But no sending me fried mice; they give me
heartburn. Chocolate would be nice, though..... : P