E6: Old Acquaintances

With Anna around, everything suddenly felt like it had meaning. She had the forest open and lively in only a few days, swarming with wildlife that she had "obtained" from other areas. She went around and burned the grass, created two paths that intersected through the forest. The northern line passed their shrine, where people could come and ask for a blessing. She had Mizuki work on connecting the forest, making her clean away grass to make paths to whatever villages she could find.

After washing away grass from sunrise to sunset, Mizuki was made to master the art of crop ripening, stowed away in the scroll room to read and practice ripening a tomato, over and over. It could have been any vegetable, but Anna chose the one that was the least likable.

At the very least, each time Mizuki was let out, the deity was treated to clean sleeping quarters and a meal fit for a king. Anna was maid and manager, her servant and criticizer, combined into one, visually blessed fire snake.

The results showed as well. Mizuki was doing her daily pattern in the rock garden, when she saw Anna come around the back, effortlessly holding two men in kimonos by the collar. Anna herself was wearing her new kimono; a white, shoulderless, armless one with a high collar. From it, the fabric completely covered her breasts and did the same for her back. Additional parts were sewn to the dress's sides to hang her forearms, with a purple knot rope around the collar. "I found these hooligans disgracing your statues, Mistress Mizuki," Anna said, tossing them roughly before her. "I think they are….mortals."

"No Anna, that is no way to treat guests," Mizuki said, setting aside her rake to help the groaning humans up from the ground. Their faces were smeared with dirt, their clothes having charred holes in them. Mizuki looked at Anna with concern. "They shouldn't have been near the dragon statues without notice then," Anna said unapologetically. "However, if this is an error, I shall take my punishment and return to my duties."

"Sew them new clothing, at once." Anna nodded and bowed, before heading inside through the backdoor. She turned to the travelers, one who took of his backpack and got on one knee. "Thank you for your mercy," he said with an uneven voice. "W-we come from the north, and have heard news of a being that could ensure a plentiful harvest…"

"Yes, that would be me," Mizuki said, patting his head with her large claw. "You may refer to me as the….oh, I don't have a title. Anna!"

"Will 'The Ryu of the Harvest' be sufficient Mistress?" Anna shouted back, busy with her knitting.

"It is fine," Mizuki said. "Did you two hear that?"

"Yes, Ryu of the Harvest," they said simultaneously. The one with the backpack opened it, inside a few crops from their homelands. "It has gotten chilly in some areas, and we fear that turnips will suffer if winter comes too soon. We humbly ask for your help, before it's too late…"

Mizuki nodded and held out her hand, an orb full of mana rising up out of her palm. They stared at it, their faces illuminated by its golden glow. "Thank you!" one said.

"Not yet. I have a few...conditions," Mizuki said. They stepped back, nodding. "Anything, what do you ask of us?"

"Compensation. A portion of your crops, once the amount exceeds your normal hull. And your devotion," Mizuki said, tapping her chin to wonder if she was forgetting anything. "Anna!"

"Explain how to use the orb!"

"Thank you," Mizuki shouted back. "You must take this orb to your village, and place it in a middle location. Let its power watch over you, and do not disturb it. Only then, will your food's full potential be realized." She finished by holding her hand out for the backpack. Once the traveler gave it, she gently slid the orb inside, closing the backpack to hide its glow. "Carry with great care. And please, wait at the entrance next time. Before, you know who…."

"We will not make that mistake again," said the second traveler.

"For your sake, I hope not. If you do not hold up your end of the bargain, your crops might meet a fiery death instead of a chilly one. Farewell!" She waved pleasantly, leaving the travelers laughing out of apprehension and fear.

Most of her first interactions went like that, with the newcomers slowly learning that possibly waiting for her or Anna to take notice was safer than being burned indiscriminately. Mizuki had Anna install a bell after the 2nd time she punished someone, so now people could ring instead of coming to the door.

The last victim was a vampire as hard-minded as Anna, being hogtied and getting her rapier taken away by the time Mizuki had finished freshening herself up. In the end, all she wanted was a nice snack that could "cure a prolonged sadness." In her case, it seemed like anger, but to their own the Ryu guessed.

One day, a group eventually passed the shrine, causing a commotion with their laughter. Mizuki was beside the minka, getting along with a deer when the noise of talking made the deer run away. "No, wait!" Mizuki said, but the deer was already too startled to stay around. Anna walked outside, holding a pot of steaming stew. "Was your relaxation disturbed?" She asked, a fire lighting on her tail.

"No need for harm, I can just talk to them," Mizuki said, going to the passersby while Anna went back inside. She waded her way around trees and bushes, coming out onto the front of the path to cut the group off. "Hiiiiii," Mizuki said. She got multiple greetings in return. "Thank you, ah, well, I was peacefully connecting to nature, but you're talking has sort interrupted my train of thought," she explained, using hand gestures for emphasis. "If you would tone it a small part down, that would be fine." One of the men laughed at her proposal. "As if we would listen to some weird monster!" He said, before being promptly hushed by a water tentacle that rose out of the ground, stuffing his mouth like a gag. The people around him side-stepped, but the rude fellow was too late to run.

"Now, does anyone else have any objections?" Mizuki said with the same welcoming smile. "What are a group of men like you doing in this forest anyways?"

"H-he was the annoying one in the group anyway. Going to enjoy ourselves on the mountains, of course," another one said, taking skis from the holsters on her back. "It's the new pastime!"

"Skiing?" Mizuki asked, never having heard of that word before.

"Yeah, I suppose you could still ski with a tail for legs," another person said, suddenly realizing she had a tail. "Wait, did we pass somewhere important?"

"Yes, you did. Well, I should definitely look at this "skiing" that you refer to." They bowed to each other and started walking away, before both sides remembered that there was still a man choking on a water tentacle.

"Oh right!" Mizuki said, letting the water collapse on the ground with a flick of her wrist. The man dropped to her knees, coughing profusely as the water had gone down his throat. He got up, still holding his Adam's apple as he stumbled along behind the group.

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"And they had these weird flat poles on their backs," Mizuki said, sitting outside. The door had been open so Anna could listen to her while preparing food, grabbing the sizzling fish with her bare hands to flip them. "It was strange, but I think it had something to do with the skiing."

"I don't know what this skiing is, but it is most likely not related to anything we are concerned with," Anna said. "I advice forgetting about those flat sticks."

"You're right, but I'm curious…." Mizuki moved a bit, looking at the alpines in the background of her forest. "What could they possibly be using those sticks for? Anna?"

"Yes Mistress?"

"Prepare our fish to go, we are going to the Mountains!" Anna arched an eyebrow, dropping the fish back in the pot. "Mistress, we can't just leave our shrine. We are important here."

"We aren't public servants stuck to the minka, and we can simply fly there and back. No one will know we are gone." Anna disagreed, but reluctantly wrapped the fish and tucked it under her arm. Mizuki happily took flight, Anna using a blast of fire from her hand as propulsion to do the same. She left the ground charred once she lifted off, watching the ground disappear below them.

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A cool winter chill replaced the warm fall the closer they got the mountains. They saw the vegetation change to evergreen, and then just marshes as the elevation was rising. They ran into snow clouds before they knew it, emerging on the other side with flecks of snow that had gotten stuck on their hair and kimonos.

"The fish is going to get cold," Anna said, trying one last time to back. "It would be wise to eat it right now…"

"You can harness fire, there is no worry," Mizuki said. "Besides, we can see the mountains!" She pointed in front of her, to the hard rock and the lowest part of the snow caps. Below were smaller mountains, completely covered in snow. There, people were gliding down, going faster than she had seen birds go through the air. "That's odd," Mizuki said. "Could that be the skiing?" Anna gave her a shrug, caring more about how it was still snowing around them. Her affinity for heat made it worse, causing the snow to melt a steam off her. It was mildly irritating to feel it sizzle and wanted to get indoors quickly.

Thankfully her mistress started heading down, going to a large cabin that was distinguishable even from their height. As they got closer, they noticed that the large blob of brown was not one cabin, but an entire complex. The biggest building was multi-leveled and wide, with large trunks acting as pillars in the front. The building right next to the snow slope was populated with people conversing and moving about, the long flat sticks stuck to their feet. Some waddled over on their attached skis and boards, before leaning into a slide that rapidly sped up down the slow until they slowed down at the bottom and crashed into piles of snow at the end.

"This may be a retreat Mistress," Anna pointed out as they touched down in front of the massive building. Anna went to knock on the door, but the door freely swung open after Anna knocked once, opening to a brightly illuminated front corridor. Many people and mamono milled around, with almost all of them having some level of winter clothing adorn. Anna took Mizuki's wrist, pulling her through the commotion to another door. There, was a front desk for the hotel, manned by a fox girl in a red uniform. "Welcome to the Zipangu Mountain hotel!" She said with a cheerful face. "Would you be booking a room here?" Mizuki slowly turned to Anna as a lightbulb lit up in her mind.

"Absolutely not," Anna said. "We are only here for this "skiing" contraption."

"I see, you wish to see the new amenity our head has added," the receptionist said. "Well, I can set up a seat at the course for a tidy sum…"

"Like hell are we paying to see people ski." Anna said, moving past her to go straight to the snow hills. A block of ice rose to block her path before she could get away. "Huh?" She said, putting her arm out and shooting a blast of fire. It melted the ice with ease, but another one came up to keep her blocked away.

"I told you miss, you must pay or you will be stuck behind the barrier."

"A block of ice isn't going to keep me from looking at someone going down a hill," Anna irritatedly said. She broke down three more blocks, but another wall just appeared every time. The receptionist just looked on, her smile and inviting facade never fading. Anna sunk her hand into the ice block one last time, breaking a hole into it with brute force. She was seething.

"Would you like to make a reser-"

"I don't need a reservation!" Anna said, breaking her hand back out. "You're doing this aren't you!? You whore! I will turn you into roasted fox!"

"I assure you, it is completely out of my control," the receptionist said, her ears wiggling as she heard a door being opened. "However, if you want to know who is, I think she is the one coming out right now." The Shirohebi turned and shot a fireball towards the direction of the door, seeing it get parted effortlessly by a slash of a tail. It retreated back into the door, replaced by a kitsune in a blue kimono with various colored flowers designed onto its fabric. Her hair was tucked under a shower net, with slices of cucumber stuck over her eyes. Her bare feet and bundle of tails dragged along the floor as she came out, looking slowly around at everyone here. Her wide scope stopped at Mizuki.

"Me?" Mizuki said, raising a finger to herself. The newcomer's mouth widened to a small grin, the Ryu only left in more confusion as the head looked on with the face of someone who just spotted fireworks. "Well, well, well," she started. "How the tables have...spun."

"Turned, Head Mervana," said the receptionist. The one in the blue kimono snapped her fingers in disappointment. "Shame, and I have been waiting years to use that line."

"You know me?" Mizuki asked.

"Of course. At least, I recognize a familiar spirit when I sense one. Come, we must catch up," Mervana said, turning around and walking back, only to walk into the wall. She put her hand on her head and stumbled back afoot, murmuring words of annoyance as she took the slices off her eyes.

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She had led them to into her spa room, where more kitsune workers were busy massaging the other clients. "It's been so long friend!" Mervana said, leading them around occupied beds. "Have had to find other things to do rather than spend time with you, so I took a look at the hobbies of mortals. Turns out, you can make a tidy sum off of what humans like, so I took to stuffing this hotel full of them." She patted one on the back, then patted one of the masseuses. "It's way more satisfying to drain their pockets, than to take away their body heat as they die in a snowstorm."

"I don't think they are suffering…" Anna said, looking at one of them sigh pleasantly. "Are you sure you are doing it right?"

"Ah, but that's the best part! I have something to occupy my time, and my customers have a snowy hill to enjoy." A masseuse came to open the door they were approaching, steam rushing out of it once it was wide open. "I also get to find out about nifty things, such as this steam bath. I was told it opens your pores. Would you like to try it with me?"

"It would be swell!" Mizuki said, going inside. Mervana followed, turning around at Anna. "Coming in as well?"

"Point me to the skis." The kitsune chuckled and pointed back out towards the door. "As you wish. Just go out the back and slither around until you see a bunch of people gathered on top of snow."

"Shouldn't be hard to find a bunch of bufoons then," Anna remarked, promptly leaving the two.

"Is she always like that?" Mervana asked, closing the door behind them. It was just those two in the room now, alone with seats along the wall, and the vision clouded by the constant spray of steam coming up.

"Only when something annoys her," Mizuki answered back, sitting in the steam. It slid along her body like oil against water, continuing on. "But she is so helpful despite it."

"Sounds a lot like you, back then," Mervana said, the steam getting absorbed in her tails. "Strict and regal, even in the privacy of your own space."

"I don't feel regal right now," Mizuki said. "Was the spirit completely different?"

"Oh, very~. Those were the days, ruling over this land with an iron fist. You were the head, and I was just your content, aggressive fox. But then, you told me that the gods had decided your time was up." She took a pipe out of her clothing, polishing it against her tails. "I visited you almost every day, until the day your body disappeared from the shrine…"

"But that's all for naught, because you're here now! We can continue doing our duties together, just like the old days!" Mervana exclaimed, seeming excited to resume her friendship. "New you or old."

"Did we have steam baths like this one?" Mizuki asked. "This doesn't feel relaxing."

"No, this is another amenity. I did say I had to find something." Mervane sunk lower in her seat, leaning her head back so she was looking up towards the ceiling. "Only the steam gets into my fur, so now my tails and ears feel so heavy…"

"Must be a hassle." Mizuki jested, twiddling her thumbs while looking around. She hadn't felt any of the benefits at all, only the heat that rubbed off the steam onto her skin.

"It is….but it is very worth it," Mervana said, her eyes closed shut. "Sometimes, I would just sit here, and let my personal spirit manage the resort…"

"Mmmhmm...do you wish to show me any other amenities?" Mizuki asked. "I do not think this is for me.

"Steam baths aren't your thing?" the kitsune replied disappointingly. She flung water around when she sat up straight, her ears hanging limply from her head. "No matter. I do have other things that I can show you. I will need to wring my tails out first."

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While Mizuki was busy being shown around, Anna had found the skiing hill. She took her place to the side and watched in disinterest as people went up and down the hill on the flat sticks. She couldn't understand what was so interesting about people siding down on them. They had to trek all the way back up, no?

A Hakutaku came up beside Anna, sitting down beside her. She brushed the snow off her bum and looked with her. "This place seems a bit out of element for a lamia," she said.

"If you think I am cold, you can leave," Anna retorted. "I'm not some mere reptile."

"Fair enough, a grown woman can handle herself in the cold," the Hakutaku said back. "It is strange though, I am supposed to be keeping tags on all of the Yokai, but here you are, unaccounted for and watching this new sport the humans have created." She extended out a hand to Anna. "Nabu, if you want to exchange greetings. Actually, I must find out your name if you are a part of the association."

"You mean the group Mistress Mizuki is in?"

"Ah, you are a shrine maiden! Now I get it," Nabu said, taking a pen and a cup of ink out from under her hat. "Mizuki did not have a maiden of her own the last time I have met her, I must ask what happened, and then interrogate you as well. Is she here with you?"

"And why would I tell you that?" Anna said.

"Isn't a maiden supposed to know where the head is at all times?" Nabu said disappointingly. "I don't wish to resort to more harmful measures." Anna let a smirk slip, holding up a sizzling hand. "I'll kill you before you have the chance."

"You are talking up a bigger storm than some yokai can make. Fine then, it would be a good assessment of your ability." Nabu turned to Anna, scooting around in the snow so her torso was well within striking range of the Shirohebi. "Make it clean maiden. I have business with the resort head, and ruining her ski hill isn't my idea of a first impression."

"Your funeral." Anna paused for a moment, then drove a hand engulfed in fire into Nabu's chest. It crashed into the Hakutaku's clothing, leaving only a patch of her green uniform burnt. The rest of the fire, dissipated in a fading ring, stunning Anna more than her hand stung from striking her. A delicate-looking hand pushed Anna's hand away, as she checked the charred spot on her clothes. "Tsk tsk tsk. Well, at least you were somewhat quick. Now then, I assume it is my turn, since you seem caught up on why your attempt failed. But I am a nice beastman, so I will give you until the next skier hits the bank to tell me your name~" Anna's head darted towards the hill, as she saw another human line up their slide down the hill. In one strike her confidence in her strength had been shaken almost completely, now she had herself to worry about. "A...An-"

"Anna!" They heard Mizuki said, being followed by Mervana. "And Nabu, I didn't know you liked snow." Nabu nodded and looked towards Mervana. The kitsune shifted behind Mizuki to hide her presence. "I don't mind it, but it could be better," she said. "I was just making acquaintances with your maiden while I'm here. You should tell me if you are going to go get one, so I can keep track."

"Sorry, I might have forgotten…." Mizuki chuckled and stepped aside, hugging Mervana with one arm. "I was busy making a friend as well. Nabu, meet-"

"Mervana! The one that will always get away." Nabu said, adjusting her glasses. "I actually came to talk to her, actually." Mervana stayed stubbornly quiet, took out her pipe again and put the mouthpiece between her lips. "I am not joining the YA."

"I have heard. Aren't you ever worried about your resort getting caught in some trouble? It is highly advisable that-"

"Do you think I would just let my place be destroyed? I don't need an organization to keep my land safe," she snapped. "In fact, who would want a pile of snow as their domain?"

"I know a few Tengu that could seek interest."

"They would have to get through the snow," Mervana said, turning to the Ryu while she took out tea leaves that looked used and wrinkled. She dropped them in the wide end of the pipe, the pipe lighting by itself as steam started to come out. "Mizuki, have you joined with them?"

"I-"

"In fact she has!" Nabu said, putting her shoulders on Mizuki's shoulders. "A new member of a wonderful society."

"Good for her," Mervana replied. "Now I have more people that can share ownership of my land." Nabu glared disapprovingly, her grip on Mizuki's shoulders tightening. "Sooner or later young lady, you are going to have to join. You have been just staying idle for centuries now."

"I send my rain and I make it snow. That is all that is needed of me," the kitsune calmly said back. "Now while you go back and worry about your loss of influence to human contraptions, I am going to make some tea." She trudged back inside, leaving a trail of pipe steam and tail tracks in the snow.

"Mizuki," Nabu said as she left. "I need you to talk to her. I just can't seem to get through to her."

"I don't think I will be much use Nabu."

"Oh don't worry," Nabu said. "You are much more useful than you think."