Yamata-no-Orochi 5

Shamoji took off through the woods, down the mountain from the summit to the midway, swerving in between the tall trees and shrubs, ignoring the snapping sounds of low-lying branches in his haste towards the direction of the strange but egregious aura, by isolating its trail of the egregious aura signature.

The Mishakuji treated any unknown aura signature as plausible threats in their territory.

Aether, fire, and metal elements showed up in the signature of the unique auras emitted from the two intruders. Shamoji frowned at the large amount of aether, which is like Yasomagatsuhi's held amount.

Then he looked down at his shoes for the moment to think, only to curse his luck at the aether element, which they nicknamed 'the bad luck' aura.

He had forgotten to switch over to the other side in his pursuit when he noticed the left tread marks on the soft soil.

Before Shamoji could react, something entwined around his waist, yanking his physical body through the veil into the Hidden Dimension, back into the fold of the constantly moving, multi-coloured, leathery scales of his brethren forming a protective ball around him.

He had re-entered the Hidden Dimension through the parallel veil, only to bump into the other appearing Mishakuji who paid close heed to his earlier alarm raised via their telepathic communication pathways. Right before Shamoji departed from Orochi's company at the summit of the mountain.

"Idiot," Hakura, the most senior of the Mishakuji present, chided him. "And worse, you are millennia old."

First rule of the hunt, never leave track marks or risk being hunted. Second rule, retreat to the hidden dimension where the rest of the Mishakuji gathered, for there is safety in numbers.

Shamoji scratched his head in silent awkwardness at being caught red-handed, committing a rookie offence. A few hissing snickers came from the rest of the other serpents in attendance, whom he shot a death glare at.

Hakura, who belonged to Ōmononushi's generation, held the famous reputation of being the Mishakuji sage - old, cunning and sharp with his words.

Of all the Mishakuji, Hakura is also the diplomat to deal with other factions, which Shamoji guessed had something to do with his penchant for appearing in the less threatening form of a human.

The others were in a myriad of serpent forms, some big, some small. All waiting and gossiping among each other in overwhelming telepathy of mind whispers.

Thoughts went through Shamoji's mind as the rest of the Mishakuji shared theirs while discussing.

Did Orochi offend someone somehow again?

Impossible, Takamagahara imprisoned him on the mountain - more of the one to play the offended than the offender.

The other Mishakuji rained the multitude of different telepathic opinions like a heavy barrage on Shamoji's mind as he tried to concentrate on the task at hand.

The noisy debate begun from the suggestion of asking Arahabaki (which met with strong objections) to sending an elder within their ranks, but others said Orochi would deem it insulting.

To Shamoji, Orochi's earlier expression seemed more of a surprise and Orochi had no reason to lie to them.

A few little kodama fled past Shamoji in their camouflage, reminding him of their dislike being always the first to run into strangers. The others grabbed a few of the frantic squirming tree souls with the tails, coiling around the five hapless kodama like a rope.

"Not so fast," Hakura said as he grabbed a kodama with his long fingernails, causing it to squiggle like a fish caught in the hook.

Hakura held the creature, about the size and shape of a thin young waif, up to face him. "Tell me how many."

The kodama avoided strangers like the plague, happy to be non-participants in the mundane lifestyle, unless ordered by the more powerful, like their trees.

"T-t-wo," the kodama stammered.

"What did you hear?"

"A-about a-a-a h-human soul h-here."

Hakura frowned and raised his eyebrow at Shamoji, who now realised who the target was.

Why Alex? Why have the two intruders left their territory and entered Takamagahara's territory to hunt him?

A faint glow emitted afar amongst the undergrowth of the forest at the lower mid way of the mountain caught their attention.

Hakura bade the rest to release the kodama with a hand gesture, as he unceremoniously dropped the grateful kodama from his grip, who fled the moment it touched the ground.

Shamoji halted to sharpen his vision around the movements in the dark curtain of the night.

"Our priority?" Shamoji asked Hakura, who rubbed his chin in deep thought as his eyes surveyed the area.

"Listen and tell me what you hear," Hakura said.

Shamoji pricked his ear up at the background noises. None except for the leaves moving in tandem with the chilly breeze. Not even an insect.

"Just leaves. Nothing else."

Even the insects gone into hiding and the larger animals fled, which bore bad news if the immediate priority was to intercept the intruder or intruders, as his eyes narrowed on another glow of a different colour.

"In a forest teeming with living creatures, never mind that it is winter," Hakura mused. "Tells you what type of potential foes these are."

"Someone like the twins Yaso and Ōmagatsuhi?"

Hakura shook his head. "With them, it's last minute fleeing - the twins of disaster sneak up. The mountain doesn't vacate half its occupants as far as several kilometres radius for those two."

"What are those, then?"

"Beast kings, and they seldom venture out," Hakura replied as his eyebrows furrowed. "And they are slow."

Beast kings, a term Shamoji rarely heard except for the reference to the four in the celestial skies; Genbu, Suzaku, Seiryu and Byakko. To retreat or continue tracking the intruders is the question.

"Now to play a game of chicken," Hakura muttered within Shamoji's hearing distance.

***

[Meanwhile, at the peak of the mountain…]

Orochi gazed downwards from his perch on top of the primeval evergreen tree as he shifted uneasily. Dead silence except for the wind whistling past them, and Alex, who was sitting on the neighbouring branch, chatting with Yata.

He lifted his chin to watch the dark figures of several bird flocks, illuminated by the waning moon peeping from the clouds, giving their area a wide berth by several miles, instead of usually roosting in the neighbouring ridge of the mountain.

"Both of you, tell me what's strange about this air?"

Yata looked up and turned all around to survey the area, then he froze.

"No sounds of animals and insects. Don't tell me Yasomagatsuhi is visiting again?" Yata groaned.

"No," Orochi said, pointing to a far off specks which were bird flocks moving to the next mountain. "The birds don't even want to come here and this is not a volcano, ready to blow up."

"Then what is it?"

"Something nasty. That's why Shamoji has been away for a while."

"Is he okay?" Alex asked, out of concern for Shamoji's safety.

"The Mishakuji are on my mountain now. I wouldn't worry but…," Orochi trailed off as he noticed a whitish snake-like wisp heading towards them above the canopy. "Hakura is here… so not good news."

"Who?" Alex turned to Yata, who hesitated, tapping his chin as though he recognised the name, then his eyes gleamed. "The Mishakuji Sage! Very senior among the serpents, he is Ōmononushi's generation."

"None other," came a reply next to Alex, who nearly fell off the branch if not for Yata's quick thinking to stretch an arm out.

A pleasant-looking man in his late 20s with silvery hair appeared next to Alex in a haori jacket embroidered with a large white serpent, studying him from head to toe.

"This is the human soul?" Hakura smirked with his finger pointed at Alex.

Orochi nodded and asked, "I gather that the intrusion has something to do with him."

"Yes. But I decided on a game of chicken."

"Who are you going to collide with? And do you need me to back up?" Orochi asked.

"Yes. I need Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi," Hakura replied, while holding two fingers up. "Two of them beast kings. And I don't think they come from the Xitian side. If memory serves me right, these are ones exiled from Xitian."

"That's trouble," Orochi clasped his cheek and glanced at Alex, who shifted uncomfortably, with no clue. "And they are looking for him?"

Hakura nodded in reply as Orochi stood up.

"Why me?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Why him?" Yata followed.

Orochi took a moment to process his thoughts of the information so far. He had heard of Kanghui's involvement with the four perilous beast kings which Xitian exiled a while back.

If those two are the notorious beast kings, they are after Alex to lure Kanghui out. That much, he could guess. The only way to break a beast king's contract was for the primeval being to fade from existence.

"What did Kanghui tell both of you about her association with the beast kings?" Orochi finally broke the discomfiting silence.

Alex's eyes widened at the mention of the four, which were Qiongqi, Huntun, Taowu and Taotie, while Yata shrugged.

"Kanghui said that they are pet like," Alex said. "Like cats."

Orochi chortled in amusement while Hakura looked away to hide his expression. "Famous last words. Pet-like."

Yata shook his head to disagree. "For her, they are like cats, but Arahabaki told me that for my current state, to enter that world where they are from, those things there can kick my spidery ass."

Pointing to the chain on his neck, Orochi looked Alex straight in the eyes and said, "other than the legends you heard of, do you want to know why these chains are on me?"

"Is it related to the beast kings?"

"I was mistaken as a beast king. I ate the primeval beings that tried to control me," Orochi said with a big gleaming smile, then his face fell. "And I got caught."

Hakura bit his lip, trying hard to keep a poker face at the anti climax. "Maybe you shouldn't have lured so many like that."

"Or tried to eat Susanoo. Oh hey, the best way to get high quality soul stones." Orochi sighed and then snapped his fingers.

An exact doppelgänger of Orochi appeared next to him, making Yata and Alex stare speechless at the clone who mimicked Orochi's exact movements down to the details at the same time, including raising his eyebrow when Orochi did.

"What's he for?"

"He is me," the two Orochi replied in unison like uncanny twins. "I am him. And we need one to follow Hakura while the other watches over both of you, dumb and dumber, here."