Of Foxfire and Cultivation Ch.3 (Patreon)

Mere minutes later (Onari age:11)

“I’m home!” Onari shouted as he entered his family’s apartments in the Youkai faction’s castle.

There was a sound from deeper in the apartments, like something had just fallen over, then a very energetic little fox shot into Onari’s chest like a bullet. All nine of Kunou’s tails were wagging as she hugged and nuzzled her big brother.

“Hey, little fox,” Onari said, fondly patting Kunou’s head. “Miss me?”

Kunou nodded with her face buried in Onari’s chest, “Un. It’s boring here without you…”

“Well, I can’t promise I won’t be leaving again in the future, but I did bring you a gift to make it up to you. And I promise I’ll bring you a new gift for every one of my journeys.”

“Grrr,” Kunou growled softly. “... What is it?”

Onari did a little flourish, producing a small package wrapped in a decorative bit of silk. The silk was green, and had a recreation of Himeji’s flag -- an image of a white bird taking flight -- embroidered on it. Kunou pulled away from Onari slightly, still staying in his arms, and traced the bird on the silk.

“Go on,” Onari prodded her. “Open it.”

Kunou did, carefully unwrapping the silk wrapping to reveal a small ceramic bento box. The box was painted black with a pattern of white curvy lines and stylized red clouds. There was also a sticker of a little anime kitsune fox plastered on the bottom right corner.

“It’s so cute!” Kunou said softly but excitedly.

Onari chuckled, “That’s not all. Open the bento.”

Once again, Kunou did as instructed. Inside the bento box was a small collection of sweets and wagashi. Kunou squealed when she saw the sweets, and immediately popped one of the sata andagi into her mouth. Her cheeks puffed up cutely as she chewed.

“Thank you, Onii-chan!” Kunou said with her mouth still full, and a bright smile on her face.

A smile grew on Onari’s face as he resumed patting her head. He walked out of the apartment’s entrance way with Kunou still in his arms. She made herself comfortable as Onari started his search for his mother.

He didn’t find Yasaka in the apartment, so he expanded his search to the rest of the castle’s main keep. Still carrying Kunou, Onari soon found his mother in her court/throne room.

Yasaka perked up when her children entered the room, but seeing as she was in the middle of a meeting, she couldn’t greet them how she really wanted to. The room’s other occupants were generally older Youkai: Yasaka’s advisors or Youkai nobles that she had to pay face to. Almost all of the older Youkai hid a scoff or scowl when Onari came in.

Onari ignored the hidden contempt, and Kunou was still too young to truly notice and understand it. Yasaka, however, barely suppressed a twitch, mentally noting each of the faces that looked down on her heir with disrespect.

Onari and Kunou had entered the room during a lull in conversation. One of the Youkai nobles -- an old, perpetually grumpy Kappa man -- took the opportunity to address Onari.

“Back already, Young Master Onari?” the Kappa said, basically sneering at Onari. “Was the mission you were tasked with too much for your delicate constitution?”

Yasaka frowned. She knew she couldn’t openly reprimand the old Kappa noble. The politics were such that his words would be treated as a borderline disrespectful, minor detail by other Youkai. She also couldn’t be seen showing too much favor to any one person in the faction, even if that person was her own flesh and blood son.

Onari completely ignored the Kappa’s words. He approached his mother’s throne, and kneeled in front of her while still holding Kunou. The Kappa fumed at being disregarded so blatantly.

The other Youkai in the room began to murmur amongst themselves, obviously disapproving of Onari’s conduct. Onari had long since learned to ignore the double standard that only seemed to apply to him. Seeing him utterly unfazed made Yasaka regain a bit of her earlier smile.

Onari formally addressed the only person in the room who’s opinion mattered to him other than Kunou, “I have returned, mother.”

“So I see, Onari,” Yasaka replied. “I assume everything went well?”

He nodded, “My mission had been completed. The Himejima Clan’s issue has been resolved, and Suou-sama seemed satisfied with my assistance.”

The Kappa wasn’t the only one to scoff when Onari name dropped the head of the Himejima Clan. Suou Himejima was a notoriously difficult man to please. None of them believed this tailless failure had managed to actually gain the clan head’s approval.

Yasaka glared around the room, imposing a brief, tense silence over its occupants. The nobles and her advisors might not respect Onari, but they definitely respected Yasaka. They would push, pull, prod, and goad the young master because they didn’t approve of his position, but the possibility of Yasaka’s ire usually prevented them from going too far.

“Would you be willing to give a report right now?” Yasaka asked, continuing the conversation.

“Of course, mother. After I traveled to Himeji, I was quickly introduced to Suou Himejima. He, in turn, introduced me to his heiress -- the wielder of the Vermillion Bird -- Suzaku Himejima. Suou-sama then informed me that their stray Youkai problem was a Gashadokuro.”

There were a couple shocked gasps to go along with the now expected scoffs that filled the room. Onari’s Qi senses told him that one or two of the gasps were disingenuous. His eyes quickly darted to the culprits who knew what he had been set up against before he said it.

Yasaka’s eyes turned worried and almost frantic when Onari mentioned the Gashadokuro. Her gaze roved over his body, closely examining for any injuries. She sighed in relief when her examination didn’t turn up anything, and waved for him to continue.

Onari tucked the information about the scheming geezers away for a moment, and resumed his report, “Suzaku and I waited until nightfall, and then ventured to the last known location that the Gashadokuro was seen. We searched the area for a while, but turned up nothing.

“Just as we were about to change up our tactics, the Gashadokuro emerged from the ground. Fortunately, I was able to react quick enough to get the both of us out of danger. There was a short scuffle before Suzaku and I retreated to change our strategy.

“I asked Suzaku to summon her Sacred Beast. With the help of the Vermillion Bird, Suzaku was able to distract the Gashadokuro until we could take it down together. Suou and I parted on amicable terms, and I believe I have made an ally in Suzaku.”

There was a moment of silence as Onari finished up his story. The room’s Qi was filled with various emotions. He felt his mother’s pride. He felt the disbelief and begrudging respect from most of the old geezers. And he felt the seething anger from the ones Onari suspected of setting this up.

The old Kappa barked a laugh, “Ha! Sounds to me like you got carried by the Sacred Beast, boy.”

Surprisingly, the Kappa was not one of the ones seething with rage because Onari survived… He was just a cunt. But Onari wasn’t about to waste this opportunity to silence his detractors, even if they wouldn’t stay silent for long.

“I was the one who dealt the finishing blow,” Onari said calmly as he threw the metal card that contained the spirit of the Gashadokuro.

The sealed card slapped onto the Kappa’s face, knocking him backward onto his ass from the force. His arms pinwheeled as he tried and failed to keep his balance. He sat up slowly, examining the card as he went.

“Well, I’ll be damned…” he muttered, baffled by the energy of the spirit sealed within the card.

The feelings of disbelief and anger in the room grew. The suspiciously angry members of the council were already making grabs for the card with their grubby mitts. Onari nonchalantly flicked his wrist, and the Qi strand connected to the card pulled it back into his hand.

Yasaka was smiling at him. Her eyes twinkled with barely restrained mirth. Onari couldn’t help but bask in the waves of pride rolling off Yasaka that she couldn’t openly express at the moment.

A lifetime of being the crippled, useless one in his family had stunted his personal development, manifesting in a praise kink. Yasaka’s delight at Onari’s achievement and the way he handled his detractor was like a balm for his wounded soul. Kunou’s giggles helped as well.

“If that is all, I shall be taking my leave. I hope your work does not hold you up long, mother. I was looking forward to spending some time with you now that I’m back,” Onari said, standing.

The tone of Yasaka’s response cut deeply for everyone else in the room, “Of course, dear. We’ll be finished up shortly. I’m sure these wonderful Youkai would not want to keep a mother from her son.”

Most of the council looked sheepish from Yasaka’s subtle chiding, but some were just narrowly hiding anger and indignation. Onari mentally noted the ones who smelled of resentment, and made a special note of the ones he suspected of setting him up.

There were two Youkai elders that Onari suspected. One was a noble, and the other, one of Yasaka’s advisors. The advisor was a Tanuki, and Onari stealthily stole a strand of his hair with True Qi. The other one, the noble, was a Tsukumogami -- a paper lantern object spirit -- so it was next to impossible for Onari to snatch a piece of his being without alerting him.

Onari left the room, taking Kunou with him. Yasaka’s longing gaze lingered on his back, but duty called. Kunou and Onari returned to their section of the castle. While they waited for Yasaka’s meeting to finish, Onari put on a small play for Kunou using illusions.

Eventually, Yasaka was freed from the tedious clutches of her council. Making sure to still appear as dignified as possible, she made haste to get to her children. She burst through the door, and immediately wrapped herself around Onari and Kunou.

“Ahkk! I wasn’t even gone for a week, mom!” Onari said, choking on one of Yasaka’s tails.

“Doesn’t matter. You were gone, and you were in danger. Just let me have this,” Yasaka mumbled into his chest.

“... Okay. I guess we can stay like this for a little while longer.”

“Yay! Family time!” Kunou cheered.

The Kitsune family of three got comfortable in their small pile. Yasaka’s tails were soft, her scent was familiar, and her warmth was cozy. It was easy for Onari and Kunou to fade into a half asleep state of bliss. Yasaka hummed lullabies softly, enjoying the company of her children.

After about two hours, Onari managed to pull himself out of his blissful fugue. Yasaka herself had also fallen asleep at some point. She and Kunou were napping peacefully, still wrapped around Onari.

Onari didn’t mind the fact that he was trapped between both of them. He used this time to meditate on his thoughts. It was also a good chance to focus on accumulating his True Qi.

So far, his progress through the Second Stage had been steady and shockingly fast. He had broken through four of the eight Dragon Diantian, putting himself at the fifth minor realm of the Second Stage: the Dragon Palm Diantian.

He had found that cultivation in the Second Stage was relatively simple. All Onari had to do was gather Qi, then once he had enough, let it naturally rise upward along his spine. The most time consuming part of the process was the act of gathering enough Qi to make a breakthrough.

Maybe it was finally time for him to delve into alchemy. Qi pills, medicines, and herbs would have a multiplicative effect on the speed he gathered Qi. Still, that was an idea for later when he wasn’t trapped inside a mound of Kitsune fluff.

Onari allowed his Qi gathering process to run in the background as he turned his attention to the suspicious elders. He took out the strand of Tanuki hair that he had stolen from Yasaka’s advisor. Focusing his True Qi in his eyes, Onari stared intensely at the hair.

Sounds and images flashed in his mind’s eye. These visions soon came together to form a coherent picture. Onari saw the Tanuki advisor look around shiftily like he was scared to be caught. The other suspicious elder, the Tsukumogami noble, soon entered the picture. Onari watched as the meeting unfolded.

“This could get us disgraced and executed, Narikage-san,” the Tanuki hissed in a hushed whisper.

Narikage just seemed to shrug, “Tadaari-san, you know as well as I do that… Yasaka needs to be reminded of her place. That she only leads the Youkai faction because us nobles and elders allow her to. She has been getting too bold, even keeping around that tailless thing when it should have been put to death at birth. She needs to be reminded that no one is untouchable.”

Cold rage swirled in Onari’s core at the way the noble sneered Yasaka’s name. He dared?! To insult Onari himself was one thing. He would have just paid that slight back with a bit of interest. But to insult his beloved, benevolent mother?!

The Tsukumogami would die slowly and painfully. Onari would shred its physical form. He would keep the object’s spirit tied to each individual shard. Then he would burn each piece with heavenly flames. And when there was nothing left, he would exorcize the impudent object spirit. He would send that spiritual blight to the darkest depths of Yomi, and make sure it was tortured until if faded from existence.

Tadaari, the Tanuki, gave Narikage a shaky nod, “I… agree… But surely you understand the risks of this plan of yours!?”

The infuriating Tsukumogami casually waved off Tadaari’s worries, “Of course, of course. The Himejima traitor has already been paid to plant the remains, and they will be silenced once the job is done. All you have to do is propose a mission for the tailless freak. A ‘test’, if you will.”

“... Yes, I understand. And it will just be an… unfortunate coincidence that the boy’s first mission ended up being such a formidable foe…”

“Exactly. When the thing fails, Yasaka will obviously be distraught. It will remind her that nothing is invincible, and the heir issue will be taken care of at the same time. Young Mistress Kunou will make a much better successor to the old fox anyway.”

The icy rage inside Onari grew further. His background Qi gathering process wobbled momentarily before Onari reined in the anger and used it to fuel his cultivation. They weren’t just insulting Yasaka. They meant to harm her. They meant to break her emotionally so that they could bend her to their will.

This could not be allowed to go unpunished. Onari watched as the meeting in the past ended. He broke the connection with the strand of hair. The Tanuki was guilty, but he wasn’t the real evil in this situation. The generous Onari would let him off ‘lightly’ just this once.

Onari carefully extracted himself from the snuggle pile. He made his way into his room to gather his formation tools. He sat down at his desk, and unfurled a scroll of parchment that had been soaked in his Qi. The strand of Tanuki hair was placed in the center of the scroll.

Pausing his cultivation for a moment, Onari gathered his Qi for a different reason. True Qi flowed down his arm and into his brush as he dipped the instrument into the ink. The brush began to glide smoothly across the scroll as Onari drew the basic structure of a curse technique.

Once the structure was in place, he started adding the cursed effects that he wanted. A cloud of bad fortune would follow the Tanuki until his death. He would forever be jumping at shadows. His strength would stagnate and begin to wane. Disease would hit him frequently and always twice as hard.

Onari finished off the cursed formation with a little cherry: a small spiritual tattoo that said “Betrayer” would manifest somewhere on the Tanuki’s body. Onari set down his brush and leaned back with a vindictive smile on his face. He clasped his hands together, fist to palm, over the finished scroll.

Qi streamed into the formation. Onari had to pull on the local Qi as well as his own Qi to power the curse. He had to sacrifice a significant amount of his internal reserves, but he believed this was worth the loss in cultivation speed. He’d just have to accelerate his plans for alchemy.

The scroll rolled itself up, and started to shine with light. Once the scroll was closed, the light began to dim until the scroll was cloaked in shadow. Onari finished jumpstarting the curse with a resounding clap. The scroll dissipated into motes of shadow.

Unfortunately, the sudden noise woke up Yasaka. She walked into Onari’s room with a still sleeping Kunou nestled in her tails.

She yawned, “Onari? What was that noise?”

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Onari said. “I was just dealing with some unfinished business.”

Still bleary eyed, Yasaka walked to sit behind Onari, and put her chin on his shoulder. Glorious, pillowy breasts were squished against his back. Onari didn’t even try to fight the possessive feelings that came over him when he smelled her scent.

Yasaka sighed comfortably, “If you say so, dear.”

Onari hummed, “Hmm, I had something else I wanted to talk to you about as well. Is now a good time to make an unusual request?”

“I don’t think there will ever be a better time. You just succeeded in an unexpectedly dangerous mission. Small as it may be, you’ve proved your worth to the rest of the faction. I could almost be expected to reward you in some way. I would reward you anyway, of course, but this gives me a good excuse.”

“Well that’s good to hear. I would like to request a supply of ingredients, some of which may be esoteric in nature. I will also need a mortar and pestle, a small cauldron, and a supply of supernatural metal.”

Yasaka looked at Onari curiously out of the corner of her eye, “Is this another one of those things from ‘a past life’?”

“Yes,” Onari nodded. “I would like to try my hand at alchemy.”

“Hmm… We’ll have to sit down and have a conversation about that one day, but I’ll wait until you feel ready to broach the subject yourself.”

“... Thank you.”

They sat in silence for a while. Onari was clearly lost in thought, and Yasaka just let him think. It wasn’t the first time Onari had considered that he might have lingering trauma from his previous life.

Being so weak and helpless for so long would leave a mark on anybody’s soul. For Onari, that mark revealed itself in his constant striving for more strength.

Luckily, cultivation was perfect for Onari’s coping method. He was constantly growing stronger, and the breakthroughs even seemed to be getting easier as he hit his stride. The looming shadow of impending tribulation didn’t even faze Onari.

The only thing that bothered him about his cultivation was his lack of understanding. He knew how to cultivate. His method had seemingly been imprinted on his brain at birth. But he didn’t know ‘why’ cultivating was so easy for him. He didn’t know ‘why’ his soul seemed to be instinctively pushing itself further up the path to transcend the heavens.

He felt that he needed to further his understanding of his Dao. That, and opening up to his family, were the only ways that he felt he would feel at peace with his trauma.

And alchemy was a good way to further his understanding. He already received small, not-insignificant insights into the Dao through his dabbling with formations. Taking separate ingredients and combining them to create something ‘whole’ and ‘new’ would hopefully grant him further knowledge of profound concepts.

The family sat there for a while, just thinking or enjoying the other’s presence. Eventually though, Yasaka was called back to work. Usually Onari would lament the amount of work his mother put into running a faction, but this time he was almost thankful for it. He still had one more piece of business to take care of after all.

The other culprit that wanted to hurt Yasaka, and tried to have him killed in an ‘accident’: Narikage the Tsukumogami. Narikage needed to die. And Onari wouldn’t be satisfied unless it was by his own hands.

Onari ghosted his way out of the castle’s keep, making sure not to wake Kunou with his exit. He spread his Qi senses over the castle. The scent of treachery, betrayal, and malice was carried on the wind. Onari instantly turned in that direction.

He didn’t bother taking the slower route on the ground. He swung himself up onto the keep’s roof, and leaped to another building. Jumping between rooftops, Onari made his way over to a somewhat secluded portion of the castle’s grounds.

Pressed right up against the wall of the castle sat a lavish building. It looked like a slightly smaller replica of the castle’s main keep. One or two guards patrolled the area around the building, but it was simple for Onari to slip past their sights.

He alighted on the roof of the building with an inaudible thud. He took a moment to center himself before he spread his Qi senses out once again. A detailed image of the building’s layout displayed itself within Onari’s mind.

He focused on a specific room on the building’s third floor. In that room, Narikage slept alone. The closest person to him was a guard that was stationed outside of the room.

A grim expression set itself on Onari’s face. He made his way to the third floor window, letting himself in with a touch of Qi telekinesis. His footsteps were silent on the tatami mat floor as he stepped through the window. The Tsukumogami slept without a care in the world, ignorant of his impending doom.

Onari stood over the object spirit. The flimsy paper that made up the lantern Tsukumogami fluttered with each faux ‘breath’. His hand slid over the vague approximation of the lantern’s mouth.

Tsukumogami didn’t actually need to do any of the normal bodily functions needed to continue living, but they at least had to go through the motions. It was part of what granted them their ‘alive’ status. So when Onari’s hand blocked off the Tsukumogami’s ‘airway’, Narikage’s eyes shot open as he realized he couldn’t ‘breathe’.

He stared up at his assailant with shock and fear in his beady, spirit eyes. Onari’s naturally crimson eyes glowed red in the darkness. The chilling sensation of Onari’s Qi pressed down on Narikage, suppressing his cries for help before they could leave his mouth.

“Not a word,” Onari whispered. His voice was deceptively calm. “You and I are going to have a little… ‘talk’ about your actions against me and my mother.”

Narikage was physically restrained. He was lifted out of his bed, slung over Onari’s shoulder, and stolen into the night. Onari made haste to a specific location in the forest behind the castle.

It was an isolated location, far from where he usually played with Kunou. He had originally discovered it and considered it for a meditation spot, but ultimately discarded it because of the area’s subtly sinister Qi.

Onari set Narikage down, and his nose twitched in disgust. Narikage briefly struggled, but the strands of Qi that bound him held strong. If it was possible, the lantern spirit’s shoulders would have slumped as he resigned himself to his fate.

Onari asked only one word, “Why?”

“Why what?!? I should be asking that question! Why are you doing this?!”

“Why?... Why did you think it was a good idea to subvert your liege in this manner?”

The Tsukumogami’s paper skin seemed to pale, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Onari didn’t even bother to play Narikage’s game. He was already positive of Narikage’s guilt. Now he was just dragging this out as long as he could stand to talk to this treacherous spirit.

“AHHHH!” Narikage screamed as a strip of paper was ripped from his physical body.

“You know…” Onari mused as he continued methodically dismantling the object spirit. “There are names for people like you.”

Each name was punctuated by the tearing of another strip from Narikage’s body, “Rat. Scab. Filth. Backstabber. Snake in the grass. Sniveling dog. Fork tongued devil. Power hungry chauvinist. Benedict-fucking-Arnold.

“But I don’t think any of those do you justice. You tried to kill me. You tried to hurt my family. You were damned the moment you made the decision to scheme against me and mine. You are a bastard Judas, not even good at what you do.”

Narikage’s screams continued as Onari destroyed his physical body. They only petered out when Onari ripped up his mouth. And still, Onari wasn’t satisfied. He could still feel Narikage’s spirit anchored to the strips of paper.

He clasped his hands together, calling upon his foxfire and Qi. Lavender flames ignited the paper strips. Purifying Qi pushed at the spirit that lingered upon the burning material. An echoing cry of spiritual agony tainted the local Qi as Narikage’s spirit was banished from the physical world.

A metaphysical gong sounded from Onari’s soul after he finished exorcizing the Tsukumogami. The act of vengeance satisfied something deep within his soul. He felt his Qi reserves soar, surging through the Sixth and Seventh Dragon Diantian.

Onari panted as his cultivation stabilized just shy of the breakthrough point to the Third Stage. His internal Qi still churned fiercely within him. The evidence from his act of revenge burned away until not even ash remained.

Eventually, Onari calmed his breathing. Motes of Qi floated through the air around him. The Qi of the clearing he was standing in felt almost pleased with his vengeful offering.

Exhausted, he pushed the strange feeling to the back of his mind, and began to make his way back home. He could really use another nap…