❈ Menka Shinden 神伝 ❈ [Private]

Quite splendidly was it that Mura’s unofficial status as a Daionmyōji would gain influence in this day and age. And yet, in his brand-new, large and comfy office he was, almost jumping in joy and excitement – this was a found like none other, and it was located in Midi… and it was connected to Kitsune, funny enough. A couple of his guildmates were potentially influenced by this founding, but Kumiko had just returned to the guild a few days ago. She would have to rest up and recover from her journey… a-anyway, damn, this was pretty entertaining.

Kitsune were, well, a very tricky species of powerful creatures from Midi, what, with all their ties to celestial, spiritual and hellish forces in their daily endeavors. Midijins had, for many years, grown and learned to respect, tolerate and fear them – all at the same time. While the majority were fair and honorable, you never wanted to fall for a kitsune’s pranks – it always spelled disaster. And yet, one of the Midijins’ state deities from times old, one of the Shinto Lords, was a Kitsune. Now, that was an understatement; it would be more precise to say that this deity was the progenitor of all Kitsune-

Yup, even the progenitor of the two, foxy members of Fairy Tail, being Menka and Kumiko. Whether they had any knowledge of this was indifferent, because Mura knew what this worshipped god was all about… his name was Inari. There was one drawing of him in Mura’s Bestiary of Ishgar Creatures, in his chapter of Midi’s Yōkai, and… well, it wasn’t authentic due to the lack of an actual status as an eye-witness or anything like that, but Mura had drawn him as a gigantic fox-monster avatar. Inari exerted pride in the hearts of many Kitsune like this.


The Midijins had a long history of revering Inari as a lord and god of all foxes in the small country. Inari commanded the blossoming of fertility, the freshness of rice and tea, the flow of sake among elders and the growing agriculture and industry that had driven the country in its later years of development. Depictions of Inari could often be seen on postmarks, souvenir stores, festival masks and as small, stone statues in maintained shrines. Inari was beloved by many as a benevolent Shinto god, but being the father-mother of all Kitsune, he had to have embodied everything that made them notorious and famous.

Well, a ghost had actually visited Mura inside the guild office… Mura drew many ghosts toward him on a daily basis with his powers as a shaman, so it was to be expected. This ghost, in particular, had revealed to him that Inari’s temple had been found by a group of present-day Onmyōji in Midi – now, it was mentioned earlier that Inari had many shrines and places of worship, but the temple talked about was Inari’s Link. So to say, it was Inari’s first and biggest temple, and the strongest link towards his avatar in this world… it was considered both a wonder of the country as well as a total myth, but it turned out to have been a real place.

The group of priests that had found it, however, had never returned from their expedition. This seeded worry in his previously jumping heart, now knowing that some unwelcoming force was having a play in Inari’s Link. Now, Mura had… personal issues with the Onmyōji, but at the same time, those issues were over a decade old, and who knew just what specific group of people had fallen prey to the invisible forces in the ancient temple? Either way, his heroic heart yearned to check the place out himself, thinking that he’d have a much better chance at unveiling its secrets as the Daionmyōji… but he wasn’t going alone.

Kumiko was taking a break, but Menka had to see this place. He still remembered her honestly tragic tale about her relationship with her mother, and… well, she might’ve gotten over it due to her age, but it didn’t sit right in the head of a young man who honored and loved his late mother deeply. If there was any relief lying in her heritage, then perhaps… perhaps she could realize some inner truth about herself in Inari’s temple? It was sort of wishful thinking, but it sounded like a good thing.

He had relayed the information over to her via Zirconis that they were going to explore this unveiled temple of Inari and that she should gear up for the possible call for combat – the details from before were kept to himself, since he wanted this to be her own, personal experience. Their method of transport was a tad ridiculous; Mura had gotten used to riding on Azure-chan and was sitting atop the serpentine Dragon’s head once more, its long and azure-blue body resting right outside of the guild’s gate where they were waiting for Menka to arrive.

Over the time, Mura’s choice of clothes had changed too; he protected his neck with a white scarf, and he wore an orange, sleeve-less jacket over his usual, black gi. Harusame and Futsu no Mitama were strapped tightly to his form, his hair was tied up, and he had ditched the thick sandals for thinner, practical ones mostly worn by Midi’s traditional mages. In these garments, his metallic arm was clear for all to see… and so were the whitening of his hair, resembling the silver tones of a certain, lecherous spirit-

“H-HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG! I can’t waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiit… can’t we pack some more, Mura?! Since we’re visiting Midi again, we should make a vacation out of it – you of all people need a break now, alright?! Let’s bring our pyjamas, too – oh, oh, and we should probably buy a new night dress for dear Menka too, shouldn’t w-“

“Not again…”
“Not again…”

“W-What, don’t give me that! You both know how close the two of us have gotten, now! Isn’t it logical to want some quality time in a lovely vacation spot with a hunt like her?! Mura, you have no room to talk – I was with you last time when you and Mythi-“

“A- but what- what does that have to do with any of this? We’re not going on a vacation, we’re just checking the temple out-“

“WAAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU NEVER DID CARE ABOUT MY FEELINGS, DID YOU!?!”

Aaaaaaaaand Kyuken began wailing, again. His feelings were a tad unstable, weren’t they? It was new to see him so fixated on one woman without even mentioning any of her three numbers, so… damn. He was genuinely in love.

Now, Mura just felt terrible, and yet he didn’t know why. He had the right to say no at one point, didn’t he?! So why did he feel so… heavy in his chest? Darn it… it was tiring to think of. So he took a nap atop Azure-chan’s head until Menka would arrive…

WC: 1155

When Menka had heard from Zirconis about the discovery of Inari’s temple, she was in two minds about whether it was somewhere that she truly wished to visit. She’d always run in the other direction whenever the mention of her or her species’s history came up and having to face it quite so suddenly was a bit of a shock to her. That wasn’t to say that she didn’t take pride in the fact she was a kitsune, only that she despised being seen as only that and nothing more. Folks were quick to judge as soon as they saw her and it always took so long for her to convince them that she was more than she appeared. She always referred to herself as a modern day kitsune, one who’d fully adapted to the human way of life and she was pleased to have done so, despite her mother’s incessant attempts at trying to heed her progress as a child. Menka didn’t feel superior over humans as her mother did. No, she considered herself to be just as much one of them as she was a kitsune.

That being said, she’d eventually convinced herself that it was probably for the best that she should see the temple for herself. Maybe she’d been running for too long and it was time for her to face the music and learn about her true heritage. Inari was a name that Menka knew, of course. Her mother had lectured her for hours on end about him although most of it had gone in one ear and out the other, some of it had been absorbed. She’d be lying if she said that exploring his temple didn’t sound fun and that was the final little nudge she needed to agree to go. Her trips with Mura and Kyuken were always entertaining and to be fair, she hadn’t actually travelled much lately and was feeling a little restless.

Not possessing any armour as such, the kitsune would just wear a free flowing dress that did little to hide her figure. Metal would only slow her down and the brunette kitsune needed her speed in order to fight properly. Besides that, her curvaceous figure was a weapon in itself, one that she’d learned a long time ago about how to master. To turn someone’s head with one glimpse was a powerful ability and Menka had never been afraid to use her own form to do that and that wasn’t just her enemies either. She knew the effect that her outfit would have on Kyuken and that was partly why she did it. He was such a sweet soul and she was incredibly fond of him so why not give him something lovely to look at?

The time came for the group to leave and as Menka left the guild hall, she found herself looking up at a massive dragon-like creature. She’d never seen it before and a smile crossed her features as she gleaned upwards. The brunette had always been pretty good at reading the feelings and emotions of those she met and didn’t think it would mind if she climbed aboard. So, she gracefully made her up the creature until she reached the head, to find herself looking down on Mura, fast asleep. Had she taken that long to get ready? Her smile gently faded as she looked down at him, her gaze drawn towards his replacement arm. He’d been in a tough fight apparently and it seemed to have aged him quite a bit or was that Kyuken’s influence perhaps?

Regardless, she’d send two of her tails down towards him and gently tickle his face and body. “Time to wake up, Mura.” She cooed, the smile returning to her face.

(627 Words)
(1782 YWC)

It took a few moments for her tails’ tickling to stimulate his brain’s awakening and jolt Mura’s eyes open. Then, slowly, they closed in again… hiding their honey-brown hue as his face slowly turned towards hers. He looked a little blissful from the short but needed rest, but something else was written on his rested face…

“I-I’m awake, I’m awake… Me~n~ka~~~!” Mura’s voice abruptly changed tone, in a shocking event revealing that Kyuken was now in control of Mura’s body – this was also visible by the change in his irises, going from the typical honey-brown to a silver-white chromos. Also, given it was Kyuken in question, his pupils protruded cartoonish hearts as he spared not a second in grabbing the vixen and holding her form tightly onto himself in a passionate hug. Euphoria bubbled up in him from just hugging her, and his lips quickly planted themselves firmly onto her cheek as he prayed in gratitude to the gods above: “Ahhhhhhhhrrhhhh~! I’ve so, so, so, so, so, so, so really, really, really, really, really, really, really needed you by my side again, Menka… how are you, you naughty devil~? Did you miss my touches?”

Kyuken’s passion had exceeded Mura’s expectations once again. The samurai ghost was in total control, having the shaman’s hands run all over the kitsune’s curvaceous, inviting body, not missing many spots to tender with all of his attention. It got to the point where even Azure-chan was unsure as to whether it should take off or not… but it didn’t particularly care. It was merely waiting for the word.

The sensations brought such ecstasy. It was shown all over Kyuken’s face, the face that used to belong to Mura who just… giggled and breathed heavily, until the shaman’s real consciousness managed to regain the reins of his flesh and push Kyuken’s soul out of himself. Mind you, it took a lot of willpower, but it was ultimately performed, and Mura’s face grew from shameless to utterly sheepish, almost hangdog… for more than one reason.

“W-Wha- did you have to do that?! I was in the middle of having fun-“ Kyuken obviously protested in panic, but quote the words of a wise man – ‘there was a place and time for everything… but not now!’. “… A-After we’ve explored the temple… will you be happy with that?” the shaman offered to the samurai spirit, his face reddening by the mere thought of having to come to a compromise just to sate the ghost’s desire. Kyuken, not having experienced this compromising side of Mura before – usually having needed to possess him in states of unconsciousness – suddenly flared up in hope and aspirations. “Y-Yes! Yes! Yes! I will keep my promise if you keep yours! Nothing will go wrong, our exploration will be swift, and me and Menka can then spend all day and night together~!!!” His ghostly fists were flying up and down his ghostly form with a goofy, screaming smile latched on his face. He was so happy…

Mura, on the other hand, was trying to regain his composure, but since Kyuken had been a tad forceful enough to pull Menka up onto his lap, he just seemed a little… paralyzed of some sort. “… S-S-So, are you… ready? I think it’s a huge event, y’know, with your heritage and all,” he gathered his focus and spoke up, slowly looking like his usual, laidback self again, “Listen, I… you might not have that many, if any, good memories of your upraising. Still, I think that it’s important that you have something to be strongly proud of, something that’s a lot more like you than, well… anything else. I mean, it is Inari of all people that we’re talking about.” Maybe it was projecting; Mura was still very proud and happy of his family, and he loved his mother with all of his heart despite her passing. It didn’t feel fair that Menka had such strong disdain for hers, and it rubbed him the wrong way, really. If anyone could make her feel prouder of being a kitsune, then it must’ve been the knowledge about Inari.

“Since we’re all ready, let’s get flying… and, uh, uhm, y-you don’t have to sit on me.”



Midi was magical. Mura felt his skin shiver a little, realizing the homesickness that was kicking in just by sniffing the fresh air above the old lands. If he could smell the fragrance of cherry flowers and incense, then imagine the scents that someone with a stronger sense of smell like Menka could make up from the air reaching up to them. Azure-chan was graceful in its sudden descent down the misty parts of the country, revealing a more sub-tropical climate accompanied by waterfalls, pink leaves, moss, cliffs and high settlements. It was rocky and high up in the air, but at the same time due to reasons unknown, the land was also emitting this air of adventure usually inspiring novel authors in Midi to write their masterpieces.

Once Azure-chan landed on a bed of crimson leaves surrounded by red lotus trees, it was only a short stroll across a clearing of the forest towards the gate… and the temple looked small. Like, quite smaller than Mura imagined at first; yes, sure, it was the very first temple ever built in honor of Inari, so it wasn’t supposed to have been flamboyant or majestic, but it was all made of wood? Then how come… it was able to withstand being smashed by huge downpours from the waterfall it was built into? Was this Inari’s doing, protecting his first temple…?


While Mura was struck by awe, the aura that emitted from the temple didn’t phase him at all… but it was an aura that drew wild, small foxes towards it. Behind them, a good litter of foxlings and their parents were gathered, observantly watching the mages approaching the temple ahead of them.

WC: 986
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OOC: Okay, since my post is really big, I’ll just note some points of interest around the temple that Menka might or might not pay attention to – of course, it’s all up to you >:3

1. The wild, red foxes behind them are trying to speak to Menka. They call themselves Ashireiko (Azi Spirit Fox), the lowest-ranking kitsune in terms of sentience and magical prowess, and they greet her worryingly as a Chiko (Earth Fox). They seem to be wary of her status as well as her strange, magical prowess that surpasses even a good handful of Zenko (kitsune that actively worship Inari as his messengers). These titles might be out of thin air, but kitsune have ranks too.

2. There are two statues about the same size as the two mages – each statue guards an edge of the bridge leading up to the entrance to Inari’s Link. The left statue is a round-faced fox wearing a festival mask and a key in its maw (a Zenko, one of the holy foxes). The right statue is a narrow-faced fox, a stern look on its vulpine face and leaning one of its paws atop a human skull (a Nogitsune, one of the ‘wild’ and independent foxes). The strange thing is that they’re both, somehow, able to focus their carved pupils right on Menka no matter her position…

3. Due to Menka’s heightened sense of hearing (assumably, given by her vulpine ears), she might be able to hear praying sutras inside of the temple. Sentences in ancient tongues not understood by any young men and women, even among the kitsune themselves.

4. Oh, and also, no signs of the earlier Onmyōjis who entered before they arrived… suspicious.

Seeing the temple for herself brought back a lot of memories and Menka briefly cringed as her mother’s face crossed her mind’s eye. She disliked the old bat even now and her ears twitched with irritation as she thought about her. Still, the building itself looked rather majestic and as the kitsune wandered towards it, she couldn’t help but feel something pull at her, like she was supposed to visit. It was a little unnerving but she didn’t really have much of a choice now. There was something waiting for her inside the temple and she’d have to face it. The kitsune just hoped that whatever was inside had no issue with her more perverse tendencies. If they did then it could well end up being an argument which wasn’t something that Menka really wanted. Make love not war had always been her philosophy.

As she walked, the kitsune could feel the gaze of others upon her and as she turned her, her eyes fell upon a group of small red foxes. They were cute little critters and as focused her senses upon them, she could understand a word or two of their barks and growls. That was all she heard at first but soon enough, she was able to translate what they were saying and their reaction to her resulted in a raising of an eyebrow. They seemed wary of her but why? She was hardly intimidating, unless it was in the bedroom and the brunette was not doing anything to frighten them. “I don’t think they like me.” She eventually said, her tone a little gloomy at the thought. Had they perhaps heard of her from her mother or something? An unpleasant thought indeed. “You don’t think this is a trap, do you?” She then asked Mura, for once sounding not all that confident.

Pushing on, the Fairy Tail mage would continue to make her way forwards, sticking rather close to Mura. A part of her just wanted to jump into his arms and try and pull out Kyuken’s will again rather than do this but it was what it was. She grit her teeth and soon enough came across a pair of large statues, at the very entrance to the temple. They were roughly the same size as her and they had eyes which seemed to follow her every movement. It was weird and a wicked part of her wanted to suddenly flash them or something, to see what they would make of that. The holiness and sanctity of the place was lost on her. “Creepy.” She commented simply, walking past the statues as quickly as she could but still feeling their eyes upon her somehow.

As if things weren’t creepy enough, as soon as she entered the temple alongside the Guildmaster, she began to hear something. Ancient hymns that seemed to resonate around the temple and more worryingly, through her body. It was a horrible feeling and she was starting to become more and more flustered. She’d always hated this religious shit and to find herself surrounded by it again was having an effect on her. Her hands began to charge nervously with lightning and when she turned to Mura, her voice held just the slightest hint of fear. “Do you hear that? Voices that are singing something? I can hear them everywhere, yet I can’t see or smell anyone.”

(563 Words)
(3331 TWC)

Wha-?

That didn’t make any sense. Menka was a wonderful kitsune, so why… why wouldn’t the foxes like her? Could they not tell from a mere glance alone? Yeah, sure, they were very wild and primitive foxes at that, but even the Ashireiko had sharp, sensory abilities to distinguish each other. Yet, Menka felt an odd distaste from them, which began to worry the Onmyōji – at times like these, he wished that he had Sorano-imouto’s ability to read emotions that sharply as well.

“… M-Maybe. Just maybe, it might be… a tra-”

“I relish the challenge they give! Just stick close to me and you’ll be safe, Menka~! I won’t let them touch a single hair from your tail!” Kyuken assured her with a single, quick flex of his ghostly biceps. Mura gave him a dull glare for a moment before ruining his little show of courage: “Now, now… Menka’s no frail damsel, you know that. If anyone tried jumping her or something, they’d probably be moving in slow-motion for her, anyway-“

“She can jump me anytime-“

"-Sooooooooooo, I say we just cover each other’s backs. I am sort of worried about the other priests… maybe they got attacked inside.” With that said, he too stumbled upon the statues guardian the bridge where they could enter the temple’s gate by… and their appearances intrigued him. Kitsune must’ve had a long, cultural evolution over the years which led to them looking more akin to humans in today’s age than back when these statues were built.

“… Yeah, I can hear those too. Those are sutras,” Mura replied quickly to Menka’s sudden warning. He had grabbed the handle of his katana in reflex, but he recognized the language – Onmyōdō sutras, meant to… t-to…

Shit, he forgot what exact sutra that was. Still, it was for the best to move through the gate now. He assumed that Menka had a good understanding of Onmyōdō, monkhood in Midi and these songs of prayer, so he didn’t elaborate any further. Sutras were prayers, basically; they could also be incantations to summon various effects to take hold of one’s soul… or another’s. That was why he suddenly moved steadier now; he didn’t know if the Onmyōji down there was trying something on them or if he was merely trying to protect himself.

Inside the small temple was merely decorations, a table to the right, and a tunnelway going further down with a diagonal staircase to walk. “Seems the temple itself was just for show,” Mura commented, trying to ease the atmosphere a bit… something foul rose up from the tunnelway, but he couldn’t tell what. He had turned his gaze back towards Menka, wanting to see how she was doing – he, himself, was feeling oddly unfocused for the moment – but a sudden, raspy voice echoed around them with no source to pinpoint:

“You, too… Onmyōji?”

Mura’s head turned sharply, his hand thoroughly about to unsheathe Harukami. However, remembering that he was merely here to visit, he was hesitant on going full offense just from the voice of someone else. “E-… Excuse us-“

“Spare me your words! You weren’t supposed to see this temple, what happened to my illusions?!”

Illusions? There were Illusion Spells cast in this place to begin with? Mura didn’t sense any at all, and given by the unknown’s words, there likely was one, but it somehow didn’t go off. “L-Listen, let’s not get at each other’s throats, alright… we’re just here to visit, and nothing more.”

“…”

“…”

A shadow suddenly rose up in front of the tunnelway, revealing a figure with the head of a classical, orange-furred fox and the body of a bipedal monk clad in an outfit typical of shugendo. The kitsune looked far more primal than Menka, showing next to no humanoid features other than its bipedal stance… but it was also glowing with mana. Wanting to greet it properly, Mura walked up to it with a hand held up next to his face, but the kitsune just… walked straight past him. All of its attention was on the beauty behind him who sprouted a number of tails very similar to its own… a fellow kitsune.

“… The other, small Onmyōji were not accompanied by one of our people,” the rather tall guardian fox explained while eyeing down Menka right in front of him. Okayyyy, that voice was different from the one who spoke to them just earlier, but Mura wasn’t actually keeping that in the back of his head at the moment. This kitsune looked oddly curious of Menka’s presence here, and it didn’t even look like any attraction to her at all or any of that sort. “… This is strange. Chiko rarely have the idea of visiting temples. Do you have the intention of praying here- u-uh… *sniff*…”

The guardian’s eyes widened a bit after suddenly smelling her. There was a scent that he recognized, definitely. “… Anora? I-Is that you?”

WC: 825
TWC: 4156