Yamata-no-Orochi 4

The adage, 'no expectations, no disappointments' rang through in Alex's swimming mind in a colorful sea of flickering mental swirls.

Shamoji didn't launch him like a rocket, as he expected. Not the usual foot launch but a dizzying catapult into the skies, hitting a few honking flying swans in a wedge formation, sheltering in Japan from the Siberian winter.

Somehow, the creatures could see him passing through them despite the veil of the hidden dimensions. White feathers flying around amidst his flailing arms and a feisty nose diving peck that went through his body gave credence to the nasty temperament befitting the beautiful yet terrible swans.

Given the same shoes, Alex would feel the same way if anyone flew into him while he minded his own business. Just not pissed enough, like those swans, to pursue a person or creature with murderous intent.

The wedge of five swans trailed him in their persistence of vengeance, honking away as they took turns stabbing the surrounding air with their blunt black beaks.

To no avail despite their furious attempts to injure him, the veil of the hidden dimension only made their pecks grow through.

Alex flailed about the skies before a spider silk shot out of the treetops to reel him in like a flying fish in the air.

A calm Orochi stood up to look at the two approaching white-feathered beasts flying in the lead, while Yata yanked Alex in, safely behind Orochi.

As though recognising Orochi in the instantaneous moment if the true danger he posed to them, the swans swerved rapidly and fled into their formation, back to their original position at double speed with their great flapping wings.

"Even the animals have no respect for you." Orochi folded his arms as Yata settled Alex down on the top branch while Shamoji looked away, like a petulant kid caught in the act, avoiding Alex's accusatory glare.

"So what's up here, other than to escape the lady love you threw behind in the cave?" Shamoji asked, pretending nothing had happened.

Orochi leaned on the evergreen's rough trunk as his eyes gaze at a distance towards a northeastern direction. "Dusk is when the Tengu appear in droves. You can see for yourself how many take towards Kanagayo's shrine in Hirose. This mountain is not high enough to get the full scenic view, but it can clue you in."

The pastel mix of bluish, pink, and orange horizon signalled the sunset as the day grew darker. Alex could see some specks of blackish shadows flying in from afar.

"I thought the Tengu guarded the mountains?" Alex muttered, curious about where those specks could have gone since the specks grew into a darkish swarm.

"Those flying in are the few who left their stronghold. And the majority don't leave their stronghold," Orochi replied.

"You call that a few?" Alex widened his eyes as his fingers pointed at the now growing dark swarm, which seemed like hundreds, if not thousands.

"Are you thinking of them as some small sized poultry? The Tengu are taller than you, shortie. They are as tall as I am, if not taller," Orochi sniggered.

"Why do they leave their territory?"

"Same reason as a human would. To do their work."

"Work as in human jobs?"

Orochi nodded. "They need to infiltrate human organisations to protect their interests."

With a frown on his face, Orochi glanced at Alex and said, "Didn't you know the whole primeval society does that?"

"Heh, I thought you all could put a spell or some device."

Orochi shook his hand and furrowed his forehead as though mystified by Alex's ignorance.

"How do you think Shamoji gets his Lexus? Put a spell? Nay, that's trouble and will raise suspicions if one isn't too careful. Like the rest of us, the Tengu have the connections to create identities, issue licences, and seem human enough for their society. And these connections can also influence human decisions on a policy level."

Yata fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his card holder, which he opened and took out a small plastic card to pass to Alex.

Alex took the card and glanced at it, not knowing what to make out of the Japanese words, other that the card was a form of official identification in Japanese, judging from the stern looking picture of Yata's face and the address imprinted on it.

"What's this?" He waved the card at Yata.

"My driver's licence. Shamoji has one too."

Shamoji held his card up to show.

"All those Tengu there have licences too," Orochi said.

"Don't tell me you have one too?"

"I don't. Can't leave the mountain," Orochi replied as he sat on the branch with his legs dangling from it, swinging them.

"How long are you imprisoned here for?"

"When they allow me to go or when I want to go. Why would I leave this place? It's home for a few millennia. Quiet neighbours. A million dollar view of the mountains and rivers."

"And a few crazy bitches knocking on the door," Shamoji said, as Orochi shuddered.

"Had he been human, he would own a harem," Shamoji added, making Orochi shrug.

"What's the use of a harem when we can't breed offspring? Pleasures of the flesh are only enjoyable when they don't come with obligations," Orochi said with a smirk, and gestured towards the darkening skies over Kanayago's shrine.

"The Tengu have their harems, they inter breed with humans but unpleasantly."

"Eh?"

"No way. Tell us more," Yata spoke out eagerly with a glint in his eyes while Alex crumpled his nose, shocked at Yata's thirst for the Tengu's dirty laundry. "BDSM bondage shit?"

*SMACK*

Shamoji's hand landed on the back of Yata's head as the spider winced. "Why do you want to know such things?"

"Curiosity…," Yata whined. "Besides, I don't know that some can interbreed with humans."

To Alex, their trip outdoors reminded him of boys camping for the night, discussing the proper and the improper when it boiled down to women, depending on the preference.

"A rare few can successfully breed," Orochi replied. "Also, In order for a Tengu to be born, the human mother must die in childbirth."

"Are there female Tengu?"

Orochi shook his head. "Never heard of a female Tengu in my existence. Not around here. But I will pity a female Tengu."

"Why?"

"Tengu are natural womanisers. I heard of a couple who like pretty boys. One tried to play with me."

"Ooooh and what happened?" Yata asked with the look of fascination and grasped hands like a dog standing with its paws together, begging for treats.

"Soul stones," Orochi replied, flashing his fang like canine with a visible drop forming, causing Alex to retreat from the natural yet venomous weapon built into Orochi's body. "I will not refuse entry to prey, especially a big, willing chicken."

"Won't they avenge their fellow brethren?" Yata asked.

"More soul stones," Orochi shrugged as he pointed his finger along their surroundings and with a lament, said, "No Tengu ventures near my area now. Pity. I shouldn't have been greedy."

"Out of curiosity, if someone of the same gender takes an interest in you, will you be angry?" Alex asked.

"Once you master shape shifting, you can even change your gender," Orochi winked. "A little more troublesome, but doable. We are not humans. Especially not you anymore. We don't care who our companions are if they are loyal, and our existence does not depend on the acts of procreation."

Made perfect sense, Alex thought, although he was a tad freaked out because a master shape-shifter, like Kanghui and Orochi, could change their genders with ease.

Human prejudices and bias never transcended nature's odd ways. Creatures like the moray eel and the clownfish could change their genders, while he rarely heard of a gender changing reptile although they exist. Still, humans would freak out about another human trying to change their gender.

"According to the rumours, your marker took a male form before entering our faction," Orochi pointed out while Alex feigned ignorance of what he had seen from Fuxi's memories while at the Mirror of Truth.

Ignorance is bliss, Alex told himself, and he didn't feel very blissful, given the rotten news of how large the Tengu contingent was at the target shrine.

"Heh?" Alex mumbled.

"We are very open to certain traits which human society frowns on. No discrimination. Just imagine Yata flirting with female humans."

"Hey now!"

"Spider and a human woman. Imagine her wrapping her legs around him."

Alex gagged at the thought with the images of a fat furry Shelob with eight eyes from the Lord of the Rings movie appearing in his mind, while a hapless Yata could only yell a "hey."

Regardless of how human Yata looked, the spider was burnt into Alex's mind.

Shamoji bit his lips as his cheeks puffed up, trying hard not to guffaw.

"Scratch that thought. It's revolting," Orochi grinned, expressing his pleasure at putting Yata at unease.

"Then a snake with a human! That's bad too!" Yata protested.

"I have seen movies of women in skimpy outfits, dancing with snakes entwined around their bodies. Humans consider us sensual," Orochi's grin grew into an enormous toothy smile. "I have yet to see one dance with a spider—"

The distant sound of twig snapping distracted Orochi while Yata clammed up as Orochi leaped up on the branch he was sitting on while Shamoji followed his cue.

Lifting the finger to his lips as Orochi turned his sharp elf looking ears, which pricked up at the growing noises. Shamoji's nostrils flared as though sniffing the scent in the air.

"Intruders," Orochi snarled softly. "Not the chickens coming to roost."

Shamoji nodded and with a snake-like twist around the branches below, the Mishakuji's body swung itself from one gnarly tree branch to another, slithering around the trunk and slinking down to the dark ground.

Orochi narrowed his reptilian eyes, which produced an eerie purplish glow after Shamoji, searching for the intruder as the tip of his tongue flicked out, licking his lips.

"I guess it's time for a different cuisine," Orochi said, looking at the rapidly approaching night fall where the sun rays were slowly disappearing in the west. "A change from the usual Japanese."