Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Let’s travel to ancient Japan, where the youkai walked among the humans of the land and they lived together sometimes without the humans even knowing their true identity. On the remote island of Oki, lived a rare jade-green eyed rabbit youkai, an outcast among the residents of the island, so his heart constantly longed for a place where he could live without being judged by others. He decided to start off his journey at the best possible time, when the land was tormented by an unknown disease that not even the God of Sun could cure…

The island of Oki. A place every traveller tries to avoid as far as possible because of the rumors and legends about man-eating evil youkais and other terrifying creatures. But in reality, only a fraction of these stories showed connections with the truth. Even if the island had residents like those, most of the youkais were satisfied with small, innocent tricks and rarely fought deadly fights with each other. They were nothing like the giant sea serpent, Yofune Nushi, who terrorized the inhabitants of the area for two years now and the description of humans were based on him. It devoured and destroyed everything that ventured into his sacred territory: the sea. They said it wouldn’t hurt a fly without a reason, and in the past he spent most of his time in the depths of the sea, but something angered the lord of the Sea and he took his revenge on the port city.

   On Oki lived a rabbit youkai called Fei Rune, the main character of this twisted story. He was disowned from the rank of rabbits at the age of twenty-three because of his unpredictable power and unnatural colours. Causing disharmony in their population was something the elder couldn’t watch without action. His exile was the main reason why he refused to change into his rabbit form over the years. This way no one could mention his difference because there were no humans on Oki just a few youkai who mimicked them for a change.

   The land that was called “the other side” by the islanders was separated from them by the sea. Fei could see the long road going alongside the beach, ending somewhere near the forest that supposed to led travellers to a town called Inaba. Sometimes the ghosts of the people who died by drowning in the sea told him stories about this place. They praised the beauty and wealth of Inaba, but as much as they wanted to return there was always a few who complained about their hardships and bad life in the city. These two extreme seemed to be the most common, but he rarely met ghosts who had a neutral opinion about the whole place saying it’s not bad or good. From the information the spirits gave him and his own imagination Fei created a city out of a fairy-tale, a giant castle of dreams. After a while he seriously reconsidered the idea of crossing the sea to chase his dreams. However every attempt was a failure because the sea kindly threw him back to the land with a strong wave or two, before the serpent could notice his presence. Sometimes Fei thought it was the sea dragon itself that sent him back, trapping him like a piece of his collection.

  Therefore the lights of the city were Fei’s only shelter from his life. As they shined behind the surrounding mountains he could forget about his problems for a few hours. Back when the sea serpent was calm even the sea became the home of many glimmering lights as some of the merchant ships left the harbour at night to reach the continent by morning. On the night that made his life take a sudden turn he was doing the same, sitting on the beach and making up scenarios in his head about objects he never saw and humans he never talked to.

   As Inaba’s lights started to fade into nothing, his gaze wandered along the rocky shore of Oki. That was the first time he saw a blue ball-like junk lying in the water. At first he didn’t really care about it, since the sea used to bring all kind of junk with the high tide but the blue colour attracted him so he decided to take a look at it. It was a weird, giant, blue toy bear. Worn out from usage, its blue fur was ruffled around the elbow-parts.

   For a moment Fei thought about bringing the toy home so he could use some parts of it, but he dropped the idea as soon as it started moving. The bear tried to get up from the ground but the water that had collected inside of it prevented him from moving.

“Some help would be greatly appreciated.” he groaned angrily as he tried to sit up. Fei was still stunned from the sudden voice but helped him otherwise. He’d seen bears many times in the forest and even talked with the one who seemed to be sleeping through his life, but this one was not just abnormal in choice of fur colour but rude too.

“You’re too bearish to be a bear.” remarked Fei with a sigh.

“I’m not a bear!” said the toy angrily. “Youkai.” He then added with the purpose of annoying the boy.

Fei was honestly surprised by this statement since the bear-toy-whatever could not know about his origin especially after a few seconds of their first meeting.

“What now? Cat got your tongue? Of course I know you are a youkai. You live on Oki, the island where no humans can set foot, remember?”

“Ye-yeah, that’s true.” Fei admitted. “Who are you exactly?”

“I use Wandaba nowadays.” he said folding his arms with a proud smile. “It comes from my human name in case I started forgetting it.”

“Human name?” asked Fei curiously as he sat down beside Wandaba on a rock.

“Agh. Don’t tell me you don’t know the three types of youkais…”

“Well there are animal youkais and humans who changed into youkais due to being greedy or eating a youkai… Uhm… The third is…”

“Tsukumogami. Tools, that gained a soul because they were abandoned for at least a hundred year. Like a karakasa.” Wandaba finished it for him but from Fei’s expression he saw how lost the boy was in this topic “It’s an umbrella that was left alone for hundreds of years. I think this region has a lot of one eyed, one legged karakasa.”

“I see. So does this mean you were abandoned too?” he said with a sympathetically smile.

Wandaba was not willing to reveal too much about his past for the boy about this, and only told him the most necessary information.

   He was a human once, but he didn’t have to wait a hundred years to become a youkai because somehow his soul got stuck in the toy bear and ever since that day, he was trying to get rid of his curse. This was his story that Fei knew, but he never spoke a word about his accident on the sea or how old was he in reality and the boy never forced the idea. He was more interested in the place where Wandaba came from. After all, he rarely met someone who didn’t lament about his death. In the case of Wandaba he just had to speak to him with utter respect as he claimed to be the wisest youkai that has ever stepped on the grounds of Oki.

“Wandaba-san what do you know about Inaba? What can I find there? And how are the people?” he asked once when they were watching the lights of the night from the shore.

The bear didn’t seem really enthusiastic about hearing this question again, but because the boy looked at him so eagerly he decided to answer his questions in his own way, murmuring something about children’s day under his breath.

“Nothing.  Absolutely nothing. The people are ungrateful and the whole place stinks! You give them your heart and they throw you into the sea! Or leave you. If you know what’s good for yourself you will never go there and never trust anyone who’s from Inaba!”

“Are you sure? I don’t think they are that bad.” Fei mused to himself thinking about his past experiences with the ghosts of Inaba. In the distance the lights of the city slowly went out in favour of the empty starless night that seemed to rule sky, closing out the stars and the moon.

“Boy, you’re too optimistic and this will be your biggest drawback in life. It’s better if you have no connections with them. You have this beautiful island. More than enough for a rabbit youkai.” he added, “Besides it’s not the wisest thing to go there now. I’ve heard the daimyo was possessed or maybe he is a spirit and then there’s the sea serpent that’s slowly destroying Inaba.”

“Daimyo?” Fei looked at him in disbelief at the mention of this unknown and foreign sounding word.

“In short, a person who controls the rest. You can call it landlord too, if that sounds better for your ears. But if you ask me they do more harm than good especially that one in the city, since he is a rather young one with zero experience. He is an egoistic idiot, who thinks he knows what he is doing.”

Wandaba badmouthed the daimyo in a way that could easily get him killed in the city, but Fei managed to get the most important information from the rant the bear made. The landlord refused the yearly sacrifice from Yofune Nushi, causing destruction and death to his own city and ships.

“Well I still want to leave this place.” said the rabbit youkai. “No one really loves me and the other side is bigger, so maybe I could meet someone who considers me his friend or youkais like me or-“

“Of course and you can find a lot of enemies too.” he let out a bitter laugh. “But for me you look too much like a human for a rabbit youkai. I bet you can’t even change into a rabbit and long forgot this ability.”

“I did not.” Fei shook his head with a smile. “You know Wandaba-san, this island mostly belongs to my relatives. However I do not belong to them as they exiled me years ago.”

“So the human form is your way of rebelling? Interesting.”

“Yeah…”

     Wandaba thought for a while whether he should ask Fei or not, but his curiosity got the best of him and he asked the rabbit to show him his true form. Or old true form as Fei referred to it. The youkai was protesting for a few seconds but Wandaba promised him more stories about the other side and after considered the offer, he did as he was asked to.

   The process was always strange no matter how many times Fei went through the grotesque transformation. But unlike his relatives, Fei’s eyes held more intelligence than six other’s as a rabbit. The toy hasn’t said a word. He just looked at the jade coloured eyes and the pale green fur, clicking his tongue as he understood the boy’s problem.

“You see, people weren’t fond of Momotaro either, because he was born in a peach and they called him a monster.” he said wisely, recalling the details of said story, but when he saw that even this widely known story was new to Fei, he outlined the legendary child and his travels. “So despite of his origins, he became a hero with his animal friends. Those idiots should be happy that you’re different. For example look at me! You won’t find a toy like me in this country!”

   After Fei changed back he sat next to Wandaba again.

“I wish people here would feel the same way.” he sighed, but since he made a promise to the melancholic youkai boy Wandaba did not stop at Momotaro and tried to introduce every story he could remember. Sometimes Fei brought back the topic of the sea in hopes that the bear will be more informative. But he did not mind if he didn’t. The newcomer made the unpleasant feeling from his heart disappear, a feeling that had a strong grip on him ever since he started living alone. The silence was gone, but even like this his thoughts wandered back to the other shore.

This island was too small for him.

Chapter Text

Then on a fateful autumn afternoon, Fei’s whole world turned upside down.

They were trying to search for some firewood in the eastern part of the forest, in hopes of finding more than withered flowers and mushrooms, but it seemed this part of Oki lacked in food already. Even if they lived on an island the winters were the times of starving if they were slow with collecting food. It never snowed, but the cold prevented the nature from renewing, making their food source very limited.

Fei and Wandaba were searching through the underbrush for anything edible (mostly for Fei because the toybear required no food). They slowly started to get further and further away from each other until they unintentionally lost sight of the other. The worst is Fei had no idea when this happened.

The boy desperately called Wandaba’s name as he aimlessly wandered in the forest looking out for every unnatural colour. Every time, only the silence of the forest answered. After a half day he finally tracked down his friend. The toy was lying on the ground, face down, here and there yellowed wool stood out from the holes on his body. Fei could feel his heart stopping for a moment as strength was escaping from his legs with the speed of lightning. If Wandaba dies, he will lose the only person who understood him the best in this world. He would be alone again. Fei only calmed down a bit when the bear moved, whimpering in pain.

From the look of the torn apart parts Wandaba was bitten by an animal.

“Wa-Wandaba!” Fei instinctively tried to push back the wool into the bear, unsuccessfully. Without any supporting material the ‘wounds’ kept on reappearing. “Wait! I can fix you! I promise! Just wait a moment…” he said as he desperately tried to help his friend. When he saw that he is helpless in the situation his arms fell limply to his sides as he realized his defeat “Don’t leave me, okay?”

“I won’t. Just leave those wounds be, you can’t sew them together without needles, anyway.” protested the bear.

He felt uncomfortable since the injuries affected him in the same way as cuts did with flesh and blood creatures. Wandaba did everything to hide this fact, so he tried to minimize the complaints. The worst part was probably the solution he came up with and the realization of what will happen to him if they succeed in finding a tailor.

“This should be sewed together, but I doubt this place would have someone like that.” he groaned in frustration. “A youkai who knows how to sew. Now that’s rare!”

He thought about his last statement for a while. Oki didn’t seem to be that rural so maybe there was some hope for him to be repaired. From what Fei told him, he could only assume that they had at least smaller villages.

Wandaba tried to sit up somehow, but he just awkwardly fell back, due to the lack of wool in his abdominal area. He angrily scratched the ground with his paws, creating small piles of dirt around them, as he was trying to push his body up again and again without any success. Yet he didn’t give up and while loudly cursing the celestials he gave it another try.

His whole body hurt indeed, he felt as if his soul was being torn out with every movement, which was a surprising sensation, considering the fact that he wasn’t quite the example of a living youkai. Sure he had a body, but no organs or bones or anything that would make him alive. Just a lifeless body with a soul attached to it.

In the end, he finally agreed to let Fei pick him up and bring him home, holding the fallen wool-puffs in his hands.

“You should really put me down for a few minutes. Hey, can you hear me, Fei?!”

The bear only started protesting after they’d travelled half of Oki to find someone who might help them with their case. He was a grown man, even if a toy bear and he could still walk on his own feet, if he gave all his power into it.

Or that was he thought.

But since he’d got stuck in the bearskin nothing was the same.

Fei walked around the island in search of people who could help him, but most of them didn’t know how to sew—not even repairing tattered clothes. Their attire was collected from the rubbles after bigger storms on the sea. Many of the youkai thought of this event as some kind of festival where they could hunt for new treasures that they could use in their daily lives so they occasionally held a feast celebrating their presents.

This was true for almost every youkai.

But one person was still on the list. Sakisaka Satoru or the “Master of Fabric” as others called him. He lived somewhere in the centre of the island far away from others and according to the rumours he spent most of his time stitching a huge sky blue blanket. If someone, then he must be the one who had the necessary tools and spare yarn to help them. The problem was his availability and their connection.

Fei had never talked with the youkai before and he wasn’t trying to befriend him in any way. He only knew that Sakisaka travelled to Oki on his own will and only the two notorious tanuki of the island, Ichino and Aoyama, visited him regularly because they thought the cat youkai was great company and he not just repaired their tattered clothes, but told stories about his homeland. Later they would share them with their friends, changing some details to make it more adventurous. But this was all he knew about Sakisaka.

However he was certain in one thing. Only those with serious problems can disturb Sakisaka. Ever since he moved to the island people had been knocking on his door for clothes to be repaired and such, so he hid his hut from the curious eyes in hopes of finding some peace, because this was the main reason of his moving to Oki.

Fei honestly hoped that this accident was serious enough to gain entry to the realm of the youkai.

They spent almost their whole afternoon going in circles in the forest where Sakisaka lived according to the tanukis. For the first few hours the forest remained the same. Green, green and green, no matter where they looked, everything was green. But as Fei moved forward with Wandaba in his arms, they realized that the forest around them slowly started getting thinner and the amount of trees decreased. They waned until they reached one real giant. Its roots were above the ground and like braids they seemed to hug the old hut, what had green moss and small weeds on the roof—a truly serene place with a kind atmosphere.

“That’s it?” asked Wandaba, impatiently clutching the pulled out wool between his blue paws.

“I- I think, yes.” Fei replied vaguely taking small steps toward the tree.

“Then what are we waiting for? Come on! Go there and by this I mean right now!” the bossy bear must’ve really wanted to get healthy again. “The day will turn into night if you keep daydreaming! If he sends us away because of this I won’t hesitate to teach you a lesson, Fei!”

As they entered they saw a boy around his teens with black locks, similar to cat ears, pointing towards the ceiling. Sakisaka looked just as kind as the others described him, even if, let’s just say, his house was less nice, in fact quite crowded even for a small person like him. One could see rolled-up fabric and colourful threads, organized in rows everywhere. In the small containers on the ground might have been paint or something similar liquid, but this only added to the magnificence of chaos. Even the floor seemed to suffer from Sakisaka’s messy lifestyle as it had colourful paint splotches.

And now, the cat youkai tried to paint the huge dark blue blanket-like fabric purple and blue hues while somehow tried to spare the thick golden threads in the embroidered parts.

“Not good. Not good. Not good.” he muttered several times as he blindly reached out for another bucket of paint from the shelf next to him, applying some pink to the blue fabric. Then he made slow motions around the golden embroideries to lighten the colours around them.

“Excuse us um, Sakisaka-san?” Fei gave him a quizzed look as he unsteadily walked closer. Upon hearing his name, the youngster turned around spilling the contents of the bowl in his hand. If his stray hair were real cat ears, then it would probably stand up in shock.

“H-How did you get here?” came his startled question, as he tried to hide the cloth behind him with his body.

Sakisaka only realized it later that the stuffed doll in the boy’s hands moved and it seemed to love and independent life. “Was it Aoyama and Ichino who led you here? But why? I told them I don’t want any visitors… It was enough to see my work ruined once.”

He started muttering things about never letting them near his house anymore and made himself lost in his own thoughts for a while.

“We didn’t come to tear apart your work, scaredy-cat.” Wandaba said when he got enough of Sakisaka.

“Yeah, we simply… found your place.” Fei replied to the tides of questions, but couldn’t deny the fact that Ichino and Aoyama played a pretty big role in this. After all, if they haven’t gossiped about him all day, they would’ve never heard of Sakisaka.

His mouth formed an o shape, after having realized what happened. “Then that’s a different case. If you find this place by yourselves, it means you have a good reason. So, what can I do for you?” The sudden mood change was rather strange for the duo, but Fei and Wandaba started to get accustomed to him. Sometimes youkai behaved like this when they met new people and Sakisaka was capable of enchanting a whole forest to prevent any kind of meetings—not just the business related ones. It was no wonder he got a heart attack when they called out for him.

“You have to repair something. It’s really important, so the sooner would be the better.” said Wandaba then started pointing at his injuries. “Here and here, then a little bit here then there. And there is one on my back. In short, where you can see any damage, fix it. But we don’t have money. So don’t expect that.”

“That’s the only reason we came here.” agreed Fei, while in his heart he prayed. If Sakisaka was THIS sensitive about strangers then he may send them away with a “no” as an answer. He couldn’t really comment on the money part.

Luckily as timid was Sakisaka in the beginning, he ignored Wandaba’s urging just as easily and he was already planning on what kind of stitches he should use on the bear. After all, this one was a special case, since he’d never met anyone who wanted a toy to be repaired. Clothes and rags are one thing, but toys required professional skills. He felt like a beginner again and this lured and excited smile to his face. The amazing feeling when he still had to think about his steps twice!

He wiped his painted hands into his clothes, then put Wandaba on the small desk after he made some free space on it.

“I can’t promise anything, though.” Sakisaka trailed the torn part on the bear’s arm with his index finger measuring the strength of the fabric. “I’ll try. However, I’m not sure if it will last. The original thread that holds together the parts is much more durable and it seems it was designed for toys. Mines are better for embroidery.”

Wandaba growled like a dog that has too many fleas, but accepted the help from Sakisaka as the boy asked him to show his ruined left hand. Of course, while the boy was stitching together his wounds he never forgot to mention how uncomfortable was his desk or how bored he was. And, by the way, he never wanted to go there in the first place. Sakisaka just stitched him together. He did what he did the best and devoted full attention to the bear before him. Fei carefully looked at his hands, but he couldn’t see the thread getting tangled or Sakisaka accidentally stabbing his fingers with the needle. Maybe he was clumsy in his life but when it came to work he carried out every task with great precision.

For most of the time Wandaba was silent, but when Sakisaka reached his stomach-area, where the damage was this biggest, he started to show signs of pain and every turn of the needle came with a hiss or worse.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve known that this won’t be easy since your friend is a youkai himself.” stopped Sakisaka for a moment. The reaction was too sudden and he was uncertain whether he should continue or not, but when Wandaba started complaining about his speed the cat youkai started working again, while being extra careful to not cause too much pain.

“Can you fix him?” asked Fei with a worried expression. Sakisaka just shook his head.

“Yeah. I think. But not permanently.” he said when he reached the other arm. “Like I said, it needs to be sewn together with a special thread otherwise it will fall apart in one or two weeks and you can come back for more repairing. Not like I would be angry at the sight of visitors like you, but if you’re going to continue with your regular lives I can only give you two weeks until the threads start to loosen, especially if it continues to move so carelessly.”

When the last wound was sewn together Wandaba’s first move would’ve been to jump down from the wooden desk if Sakisaka hadn’t caught him in time.

“Wandaba-san! Stop it!” warned the rabbit youkai with a reproving glare. “I’m not going to drag you through the forest again if you get hurt.”

“But I’m ready; therefore I don’t have to sit here till doomsday. Now, let’s go, Fei.”

The blue toy finally jumped off the table and started walking toward the door. He hated this overcrowded little hut and all of these expensive-looking tools. Especially the cloths that reminded him of something he wanted to forget for a long time.

“This won’t be easy.” said the green haired boy. “Sakisaka do you know some other methods? Really, anything would be fine.”

The cat boy thought for a moment, he looked like he was studying the fabric, embroidered constellations. His green eyes were waiting answers from the replica. Maybe it knew more about the world than he did.

“Well… Do you know where he is from?” he asked still looking at the copy of the night sky.

“From Inaba, where else?!” seethed Wandaba with boiling anger as he was speaking this one name. “Then this answers it.” he smiled “If he is from Inaba then probably the tailor workshop where he was made can be found in that area, meaning you could get the yarn that was used in his making.” he said enthusiastically, eyes glittering from the realization. When he looked at Fei he changed his mind. The boy looked surprised for sure, but determined at the same time and Sakisaka had the feeling what was he planning in that little rabbit head if his. “Ah, B-But it’s really not wise to go there now! It’s not safe and even for a bigger youkai, crossing the sea would be a serious problem unless it has wings. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to discourage you or anything but reconsider your choices twice, if I may ask.”

“All right.” said Fei as he went to open the door without any further question. “Thank you, again.”

He was about to leave the house when Sakisaka called after them. He saw the wilderness through his door and seemed to remember something. The sky was already dark tiny white dots shimmering on it and his forest started coming into life.

“D-Don’t you want to spend the night here? It’s pretty late out there and there is no way telling what the kodamas might do if they saw you in their forest. It’s safer here.”

Fei turned around looking at the sulking boy questioningly.

Kodamas.

He never heard of those.

Sakisaka stepped beside him closing his eyes, pointing towards the woods before them.

“Listen.”

As their voices disappeared from the air a faint sounds could be heard from the distance. It was a calming ringing tone. It was like out of nowhere someone put out wind chimes in different parts of the forest. Probably minutes after the phenomenon, faintly shining lights appeared in the forest around them. They were levitating, slowly moving without any goal.

Apparently the sounds came from the impact when they hit the leaves or the branches. Sometimes their colours changed from white to light green or blue as they slowly approached the hut.

“Whoa. So they’re the kodamas you were talking about?” said Fei as one of them touched his leg, leaving a pleasant warm feeling on that spot.

“Yeah. Kodamas are the spirits of this forest and my best friends. They mostly come out around midnight to purify the forest from the traces of evil spirits by touching everything what comes into their way. But they hide my hut as well.” Sakisaka explained with a proud grin on his face. “Plus, they help me not to get lost when I study the stars.”

“So they’re really helpful,” nodded Wandaba. “We should get a few.”

“Aaand mischievous,” added Sakisaka. “That’s why I offered you to stay overnight in the first place.”

“I wonder why we never see them around our place,” mumbled Fei as another one touched his face this time. The kodamas had taken an interest in the newcomers and with their tiny body they started gathering around them, letting out faint sounds of wind chimes. Fei put out his hand to catch one of them, then made a cage with the help of his other, just like when a kid tries to catch a grasshopper.

But as he opened his hands the kodama was nowhere to be found.

“Maybe because your place has a lot of youkais. But maybe you have them too, they just don’t show themselves. It happens a lot around here too. Sometimes you can see them in the morning, at noon, but sometimes you can’t see them for a whole week.”

The conversation took up a nice pace and soon they were talking about everything that came into their mind, making small promises about meeting again. Sakisaka was even interested in seeing their favourite spot on the beach in the near future.

And for the second time in that year, Fei was happy.

Meeting new friends was always among his dreams and two in a row sounded far too nice for his heart. Yes, his heart was filled with happiness, but his head was making plans about his inevitable departure.

“Come again, you two!” waved Sakisaka with honest smile in his face. “You can come anytime you want!”

“Ah, okay. Maybe this will be sooner than you expect it.” waved back the green haired.

“Thanks again, scaredy-cat.” smirked Wandaba.

“You’re welcome, Wandaba-san. Take care of yourself, please.”

As they disappeared in forest, followed by a few curious kodamas, Sakisaka’s smile withered into a remarkably rueful one that held almost all the sympathy of the world. From the look on Fei’s face he knew everything and Sakisaka knew how dangerous it can be if someone wanted to help without knowing his limits, especially if that case is hopeless. He’d seen enough desperate attempts and miserable outcomes, but he could never prevent the catastrophe from happening. Just continued working in his workshop like he did for 120 years now.

Finishing the task that was given by the most important person in this world, he repainted his masterpiece several times but too many stars were missing from the complete picture no matter how hard he searched for them. They disappeared from the face of the sky without trace and no one knew where the stray constellations could be found.

Chapter Text

Fei might have been only a youkai rabbit, but he knew it too well that he was special in a way. One could say he was perfectly aware of this fact and tried to use it for his advantage. Even if this didn't show in his physical abilities it gave him confidence. The time has come when he had to realize his greatest dream: crossing the sea. Now that he found a goal to achieve he had a reason to go on this long and dangerous journey.

The Yofune Nushi was not as smart as he thought, so there had to be a way to trick him. He just had to wait for a good chance and find out the secret. He tried thinking about when would be the easiest to cross the sea. That's how the monster's loyal followers came into the picture; the shark clan. They were formidable killing machines, with sharp teeth. Smaller but at least three times faster than the Yofune Nushi. Thanks to this if the sea dragon was away from his territory, no one even tried to go near the water as death waited for anyone who tried even dip into the water. This meant a big problem for Fei, since the sharks seemed to be his only option for the big escape. Fortunately, they weren't famous for their brain and tricking them would be easier thing fighting with a few hundred metres long sea dragon.

The only problem was Wandaba. The bear was more cautious about him ever since they left Sakisaka's hut and asking Fei about his future plans became a habit of his. Where are you going? When will you come back? Why are you leaving me now? These questions became more frequent as the days passed and Fei couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving him. The accident changed the bear and he was grumpier and tiring than ever, so before his departure he had to make sure that Wandaba is in good hands. After all, he was the main reason why Fei wanted to see Inaba and he wanted him to be safe until he comes back from his trip.

This is where Sakisaka came into the picture, being the bearsitter for a while. Of course nothing was easy for them as the bear deeply opposed staying at Sakisaka's place. It was small, dirty, never speaking about the amount of paint he could collect on his fur in a day. No. He was totally against the whole idea and asked the boy to leave him in their old place or just bury him somewhere. Anything, but Sakisaka was good for the bear.

In the end Fei managed to persuade Wandaba into staying there for a few nights, because, as he told them the transparent white lie, he wanted to visit a friend who lived on the other side of Oki because from Fei heard that he might have some spare yarn. It was a pure lie, one that couldn't hurt anyone but he felt that as soon as he said the word "friend" Wandaba got suspicious. After all, Fei never mentioned he had friends and stated the opposite many times.

When they next visited Sakisaka, the kodamas let them through without a problem and even the young cat youkai was much calmer than on their first meeting, continuing his work without a problem as the pair entered his hut.

"Is everything alright?" asked Sakisaka, as Fei and Wandaba sat down on his wooden stools. Apparently those were all gifts from Aoyama and Ichino, so they had a place to sit on their visits. Later a table and a shelf joined too and soon they started to furniture the hut to make it look like their own home. It made everything more homelike, but Sakisaka seriously started worrying that his friends might move to his house permanently.

"Yeah." Fei nodded "Are you sure you Wandaba can stay here for a few days?"

"Of course! I won't mind taking care of him." smiled Sakisaka as he joined them at the table. "But I have one condition. If he keeps acting like an old man, I'll have the right to stuff his mouth in with a sock and tie him to a chair."

"Okay. I give you a free hand at that." Fei said out bluntly earning a soul piercing stare from Wandaba and a kick under the table.

"I'm against it! You can't just drop me at this place and go off on your own adventure! Fei, if you dare to do this I won't speak to you, can you hear me?! I don't want to stay here with this... bakemono!* he can't even sew properly! Just look at those stitches! Are those even stitches?"

"Watch your mouth, Wandaba-san!" said Sakisaka with the smile of an angel "I might find that rope sooner than I wanted..."

"Fei!" Wandaba was at the verge of escaping from this hell. "Why are you going away anyway? I thought we talked about this hundreds of times already I'm fine with being fixed once in a week."

"I'm sorry but it will be faster if I go alone as a rabbit." exclaimed the boy, as he nervously crumpled the fabric on the table.

Wandaba nodded but instantly looked up at the boy, as he realized what he just said.

"Wait, what did you-?"

"It will be faster this way!" he added hastily. He wanted to sound as casual as he could, but Fei's cover was almost blown when he tried adding new reasons. First unknown friends and know his rabbit form was sure to blow his cover.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yeah! Don't worry Wandaba-san."

The bear growled under his breath, but Fei couldn't understand a word from his mumbling as usually. Yet the boy hasn't asked a single question, just stood up and took his way to the door. Sakisaka and the toy bear looked at each other and with a nod as they followed Fei.

It seemed their final parting came closer and closer.

Everyone knew this, yet they remained silent.

"I'll be back in a few days." smiled Fei back at the duo and without any further words, following the old road through the forest he disappeared in the green thicket. When they were sure Fei was out of hearing range Sakisaka let out the deepest sigh ever heard in the forest.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Wandaba-san. A really bad feeling. Can't we just stop Fei and bring him back?" Sakisaka sent towards him a worried look, but Wandaba showed no signs of backing off from their plans.

"If Fei wants this so much we can't stop him. You can plea and cry all you want, but you can't make him change his mind. He is Fei Rune, a bad liar and a stubborn donkey. Besides if he wants to die so much, what are we to stop him? I've done my part and now he decided to challenge fate."

The atmosphere changed so suddenly Sakisaka had no time to react. No, the bear changed and it seemed with Fei's departure, his good mood had disappeared too.

"What if he dies? Do you even care for Fei or he was just a temporarily companion who kept you away from negative feelings? He is not a lifeless doll like you, Wandaba and you should know it more than anyone!" the cat demon was shaking from anger. Wandaba visited him on several occasions, because he knew Fei's plans all along, so they made a plan in case Fei executes it. It was okay. Everything was all right. Or he wanted to believe this.

If everything went according to their plans Fei would turn back as soon as he sees the sea serpent or his sharks, but when Sakisaka looked into those jade green eyes he understood the youkai would never stop because of danger. For his friend he would even risk his life and this discouraged Sakisaka greatly making his whole plan crumble.

"Could you tell me what happens if he dies? Will it change the pace of the world? Will the sun and the moon disappear if one youkai dies? "

Sakisaka looked at him in disbelief. Wandaba's words were harsh and cruel, nothing like the kind yet quick-tempered plush bear's. His old self seemed to fade away. If his personality started changing it could only meant only one thing, the youkai started to lose his humanity. This was a common phenomenon amongst his kind, having only a fragment of a human's soul, though Sakisaka couldn't really think of any reason why this would happen right now, since objects only lost their human way of thinking after they were abandoned for hundreds of years and Wandaba always had Fei by his side.

Now that he thought about it, maybe the changing started way before today… But he didn't have time to held a discussion about this since Fei's life was in danger and while Wandaba could be restored easily, if the rabbit youkai had his head bitten of nothing could save him.

"When I come back..." he looked at the bear "I want you to explain everything about yourself. Not just how you came to the island. I want to know who are you really, or more like, who was you."

-.-

Fei took a deep breath. Trying to calm down his mind, for the upcoming events. The sea was surprisingly serene on this morning and the sand radiated with comforting warmth from the autumn sun. For his plan he had to take up the form he despised so much from ears to tail. But if changing into a rabbit was the ticket for Inaba he could bear it for a few hours. For the sake of Wandaba. That was what he kept repeating in his mind.

Again, he started imagining how he will cross the sea, without getting a drop of saltwater on his fur. After landing on the other shore he just have to cross the hills, acquire the thread from Inaba and return home the same way he did or finding a youkai, preferably a tengu who can take him back to Oki.

In addition today seemed to be rather favourable for this mission. The Yofune Nushi strayed away from the island to punish Inaba again for not giving him the chosen sacrifice. Right now he was away, destroying the harbour and killing the resident off the city. The last puzzle piece fell into place as the sharks, which had major role in his plans were all performed their guard duties.

For one last time he measured the distance then he tried calling the sharks. He shouted their names several times, tossed rocks into the sea, but nothing happened. Just when he thought that even the sharks were absent and he can swim through without getting caught, a red fin popped up from the depth, followed by two companions.

"What do you want, puny rabbit? Do you wanna die, perhaps? I can grant your wish for you just come closer." laughed maliciously the leader his sharp teeth reflected the sun with every movement he made "Well you don't have much meat on you but for an appetizer this isn't a bad catch."

"I J- Just..." Fei tried to collect his courage and put an end to his stuttering I want to challenge you to a race!"

He gulped as he watched the sharp teeth snarling at him he felt his hardly collected confidence suddenly vanishing from him. He imagined how it would feel like if those fangs cut deep into his skin and tear his body to shreds. For a moment, he could feel the ground slipping away from him at the thought of pain and death, but he couldn't run away now and continued to describe the race for the red leader, who had scars all over his body.

"I admit your clan is far superior in power and fills the entire ocean, but! Don't you think you're exaggerating things when you say that you rule this area with numbers? I think this island alone has more rabbits than shark in your sea."

"Nonsense! As far as I know no family is as great as ours!" hacked furiously the leader, creating foam and torrents around him. If death itself wouldn't linger before him Fei would've been laughing at the show, because the shark took the bait and everything went according to his plans.

"Then why don't we have a little game? I count your people by hopping on your back, then after that I'll call the rabbits of this island to the shore so you can compare our numbers. You only have to line up from coast to coast, but of course only if you have enough sharks to do so. I'm not so good at arithmetic, therefore I'll count your friends in steps." he said with lot more confidence than before. The sharks obviously thought he was an idiot who wanted to sacrifice his whole family by bringing them to their jaws, so Fei was proud of himself when the words seemed to reach their destinations. Just as he expected the leader didn't hesitate and called his followers to stay in a line until the "puny rabbit" can count them. They almost reached the other shore too and with this another predicament came true. A bridge made from sharks, who had no idea about the innocent little trick he was about to play with their head.

When the youkai boy thought it was safe to cross he gave a sign and started hopping from one to another, carefully not to slip down from their slick skin.

One... two...three...

Four... Five... Six...

Seven... Eight... Nine...

He jumped closer and closer to the other side without any problem, but in the meantime he forgot about counting the sharks. If he was in human form h would've shrugged at the thought. Nothing mattered, only the goal what came closer and closer with every jump he made.
Only until the animals started moving under his feet swimming away seconds after he stepped onto them.

He was almost there. It was almost over. Just a couple of jumps and perhaps a little swimming but he will reach the rocky shores. Why should he count? He was faster than the sharks as they could never move away in time! By the time they realize what should the do get will be over hedges and ditches.

That's why his heart skipped a beat when one of the sharks swam out of the line sooner than he reached it, immediately making a void space in his previous calculations. He had to change the rhythm in a few seconds to leap farther than before.

Soon more and more sharks followed the first and even tried to attack him when he was hopping over the water.

All had one goal in mind: to pull him down to the bottom of the sea.

Sometimes the open jaws from the sea almost caught his legs and it was pure luck that he managed to dodge them somehow. It was all good until a long forgotten red fin emerged from the water. He did not care about the safety of others as he lunged forward to take his revenge out on the rabbit. After Fei successfully landed on a new back the leader rammed into them with such power that Fei lost his balance and, like a stone, he fell into the water with a splash.

Despite his shock he tried to swim and hoped to reach the shores before the shark attacked again. Now, Fei wasn't a good swimmer as he never had the chance to try himself out in deep water, yet his instincts urged him to survive and move, move as fast as he could.

He saw the coast and reaching it couldn't have meant a problem for him.

"You tricked us, puny rodent!" told the leader in a calm tone while swimming next to Fei without making any effort to hurt him. "But you forgot one thing... One very important thing..." Then he started moving his fins, making bigger and bigger waves with each move. For a moment Fei thought the poison from the shark's soul slowly seeped through his skin stirring up chaotic foam and boiling the water around him with anger. Sometimes Fei started violently coughing as he accidentally gulped down the sea water and with the growth of the waves his eyes started tearing up from it, making him stop.
He thought this will be his only punishment for tricking the sharks. He only realized his mistake when something strong had bitten into his back leg and started pulling him down to the bottom of the sea with full extent. Suddenly it felt like the air was squeezed out from his lungs giving way to the water. He tried to struggle his way up to the surface, but as soon as he felt hope stirring up in his heart, he was pulled back, leaving streams of red around himself.

A small underweight rabbit hadn't mean too big feast for the sharks, so instead of eating him in one bite the leader took away Fei from his henchman and started playing around with the helpless youkai. He swam deeper and deeper, watching how Fei tried to break free from his teeth, hitting his nose with is powerless paws, trying to use his claws without any success.
Sometimes he stopped for a moment and let go of Fei just to leave new bite-marks on his body as he caught him again.
Beside this, Fei's air was less with each second and its effects started to show on him. The rabbit's movements became sluggish, almost none, as he started slipping in and out of his consciousness he left himself being drifted around in the water.

The red shark could watch this all day and he would even let the rabbit die in slow agony, if his campaign on bloody revenge hadn't gotten a completely different ending than drowning a furball. He released the rabbit then caught it again just like before to shook it like a cat does when it catches a mouse. He then repeated this motion several times, but he never used up enough power to break the rabbit's neck or spine, a few bones were enough.

The beautiful white coat was no more. It had red holes everywhere painting the sea with their colour. A death like this would be too kind for someone who tricked their proud family, he thought. Besides he preferred long and painful death when the sinner was devoured alive by worms and other scavengers.

Yes that was the punishment what rats like this one deserved.

If Fei wasn't dizzy enough, the shark made sure to swim circles with him and just when he wished he would die already to end his suffering. His body left the water and with a mighty swing the shark throw him to the direction of the other coast.

"This is my parting gift." called the shark after him, letting the hair stuck between his teeth to be washed out by the water. „This is what you wanted by making a fool of us right? Then enjoy! You can perish where you tried to get without every knowing anything else than this shore. I hope you're happy with your first and last day."

Fei did not answer his mocking. The landing was so powerful that he flew all the way to the grassy area near the beach. He tried to move, but his muscles refused to follow his orders and the little power he had was used for staying alive in the water. Even breathing was a struggle right now and the water he coughed up made it even worse. Where the teeth dug into his skin blood was oozing from the wounds, streaming down on his wet fur and at the end making small puddles around his body. For everyone this was the sign that he didn't have too much time left. However, he was far away from the water, lying in the grass in the protecting shadow of the trees where at least the midday sun couldn't reach him. He reached his goal at last.

Fei fought with tiredness but it was a lost fight from the beginning and fatigue triumphed over him before he could think about the importance staying awake. He was dizzy, he wanted to sleep, he felt nauseous on top of that, while his front leg felt weird, though a numbing pain would be a better idiom for this sensation. He desperately wanted to change back, yes, he should've done that before let himself to be defeated by bad luck and himself.

Chapter Text

The mistress of Ryuujinkawa, a beautiful girl who bore the name, Beta. The dragon goddess who controlled life and had chosen to live among the humans, far away from Takamagahara, the divine land of deities, By the strange twist of fate she also tried to get to the infamous coastal city.

This cheerful girl just finished her long journey through the surrounding hills what protected Inaba and cape Keta as a natural barricade. She was frustrated and immensely angry at those jerks who populated the city and found it a good idea, to pollute the river what meandered on the other side of their mountain. At the same time this very river, served as Beta's small private realm. Thanks to them the once crystal clear water became turbid and brown foam appeared on the surface, along with dead fish. Not to mention the debris what'd gotten washed down from the forest. It blocked the way of the water forcing the river to flood the neighbouring areas with its poisonous mud.

At first she had only small problems, but after the whole mountain started looking like a giant toxic swamp, with no life or sounds, she decided it was time to take her most loyal servant and shake the things up in Inaba, by giving a landlord a serious beating.

龍神

They left home less than two days ago, yet there was no sign of fatigue even after walking down the long mountain road. Even Orca, the servant of the mistress, held the umbrella just as proudly above the head of Beta, when they left the little river kingdom. Even with this seemingly uncomfortable task she managed to continue her little chit-chat with ease about the stupid older brother of Beta. Now, the term 'brother' used to distinguish the person, who seemed to be the topic of the conversation, was a strong one. She hated honouring him with such rank. Especially if we consider the fact, that Beta always denied the existence of her two useless brother, who listened to the names Alpha and Gamma.

In her eyes, both of them were just average people with godly powers, but at the same time she thought of them as servants who were easy to play with. Gamma was a good prey because he was a hot-headed idiot and easily fell for her tricks, when she continuously stomped into his pride, while Alpha was entertaining when the usual stoicism disappeared from his face.

Beta proudly cackled when Orca said her honest opinion about their little joke they'd committed against the eldest brother the other night.

Originally, they had completely different goals, but their destination was the same. Beta used the opportunity to travel with Alpha for a while. Only until they find a good way to get rid of him, of course.

At first, she just kept his brother at her side for fun and because she needed someone she could kick forward, when demons attacked them. But his company soon became boring and dragged down their mood. Beta seriously started regretting the idea of travelling with her stoic brother, but she would've never admit this in front of Orca who was against the idea ever since they ran into the boy. The road promised to be boring because Alpha wasn't a good partner in conversations, besides in a way he prevented the girls from chattering about silly topics with his mere presence.

But then, they finally found some fun at a small hut, near the road that led them through the mountains. Only an old couple lived there without any son, nor daughter. It was suspicious enough, because in the meantime they haven't shown signs of starvation or weakness. This sparked the interest in Beta's eyes. After all, living alone in the forest would be hard and dangerous, even for a young pair, not someone who was halfway to the grave. Letting her curiosity roam freely, Beta started asking questions while she carefully observed her surroundings. The old man was kind and had a golden heart, he seemed to love sparrows and small birds. On the other hand the woman became the victim of her own demons, she hated every creature and she hated everyone whom voice rang more beautiful than hers. Or at least that was what Beta could find out after they had a little discussion with them, and the woman secretly showed them her bird tongue collection, hiding the empty cage.
"They say if you collect hundreds of bird tongues you'll gain a voice more beautiful than any sirens." she told them happily when her husband was out, collecting firewood.

Of course the husband was delighted when he heard that they wanted to stay for the night, saying things about rarely having company in the forest. Not even weary travellers; what again, seemed really suspicious for the little group.

"We have visitors once in a while, when someone gets lost in the forest." said the man letting out a big sigh. "This place was livelier back in the days, you know. But now? I keep wondering what happened with the villagers who used to go through this mountain road. They used to light up our mood with their stories and brought wares from the city."

The man kept on talking until he got completely lost in his own tales; however Beta's attention was distracted by the clothes of the woman. Even now, she could clearly see the brown blood droplets on her lap. After all, no matter how many times people will try to wash blood out of their clothes, the stains will remain there. Water treasures memories and never washes away secrets completely. But it wasn't just animal blood, but blood of humans and the last piece of the puzzle suddenly found its way to the blank hole.

When they made sure Alpha was asleep, the girls sneaked out of the house and left, hoping to hear some desperate screams from the house. They couldn't even imagine the face of Alpha when he saw the woman towering above him with a sharpened knife, though; she hoped that his good-for-nothing brother woke up before the blade cut through his throat. Hopefully. She had no intention of killing him, at least not yet. It would mean too many problems for the council of gods to find a good successor.

"We should've just stayed there. You know, until he wakes up." she casually remarked, glancing at Orca. "If he ever wakes up."

"Then we would've to being caught too." the servant sighed as she quickly adjusted the umbrella over the head of her mistress. No sunray could burn her tender skin. That was Orca's protocol. "I think leaving him there was the best for us."

Beta nodded approvingly, still regretting a bit that she left out the show. Well, if Alpha survived they will meet a few days later and the boy will start grumbling again in their company. But this was every word they wanted to waste on Alpha. Soon their chitchat got distracted by the daily issues, what was the usual for the pair of travellers.

龍神

They were walking along the beach when Beta noticed a bloody furball lying on the edge of the road. It wasn't moving and did nothing in order to escape from them. Dead. That was the first thought emerging from her sea of thoughts, but as they neared the carcass she saw the furball's side weakly rising as its lungs were filled with air, then lowering when the air left the body. Beta should've been surprised, even disgusted by the sight of blood and flesh, but for a river goddess this was nothing. Her river had seen plenty of torn up dead and half-dead bodies; after all, letting the river carry away the corpses was the easiest way to get rid of them. Though she wasn't innocent and even admittedly did the finishing touches with the rocks in the stream. Not even a corpse could leave her river without feeling the hands of the goddess.

She'd bent down to take a closer look at the small rodent and the damage it had suffered. A terrible fate was waiting for the rabbit if his wounds weren't treated in time. Maybe this was the reason why an unusually soft smile appeared on her face as she stroked the bloody fur. Not caring about dirtying her clothes or hand, even when crimson red flowers started blooming on the sleeves of her kimono. The thought of an animal withstanding such torture filled her heart with deep respect and curiosity. The rabbit belonged to the world of dead, yet earth wanted to keep him there no matter what. A truly fascinating fight for a mere animal.

The rabbit woke up from her touches and stared at her, eyes flickering with fear. Those mesmerizing green eyes reflected exhaustion, fear and disgust at the same time as the rabbit tried to stand up somehow.

Beta couldn't quite understand the reason for his behaviour, just softly clicked her tongue when the animal exposed his true self to her. His movements and eyes betrayed him. From that moment Beta knew her newly found 'friend' was a youkai and soon enough an evil plan was in the make. Boredom transform even the kindest lady into a cruel snake. Without her brother she needed something to entertain herself, even if that meant harm for others. In hindsight leaving her brother in the company of the madwoman was a really foolish decision on her part. A long road was ahead of them and she wanted to see the master of indifference suffering in various ways!

"Poor little one, they'd caught you for good." she caressed the white rabbit's head. "What a pity. You had a very nice coat."

Fei had never seen a real, flesh and blood human so it was no wonder that he started shaking with fear when the girl showed kindness towards him. After a few soothing caress was enough for him to realize the violet eyes meant no harm nor threatened his life. So he let the girl run her palms through his fur and with every touch he felt a wave of warmth spreading in his body. Magic. Fei thought as he slowly regained his energy. It must've been magic. He was sure of it.

"Try cleaning your wounds with seawater. The salt in it will disinfect them so you won't feel sick. Then, after doing this, let the wind dry your coat." she chuckled "But beware. Don't let any grain of sand or earth get into your wounds, because you have to start the whole process from the beginning!" she finished in her sweetest voice. Then without any further words she continued her journey to the city of Inaba, leaving a confused rabbit on the ground.

They had better things to do than healing common dirty youkais, who will die anyway but the fact they helped him to the other side brought sinister feelings into her heart. Something was not right about that rabbit.

Later she deeply regretted her decision for another reason too. Maybe if it had been an ordinary rabbit she would've healed it so she had something to play with in Inaba, but helping youkai-folk was out of question in beta's dictionary.

龍神

After a lot of anguish and crying, Fei seemed to gather enough strength to drag himself closer to the sea as the girl proposed to him. He wanted to take a human form already, but he was too weak to do anything except splashing some water onto his skin with sluggish movements. The water was cold as ice and the pain what the salt caused when it reached the open wounds made him tremble. Did he really have to endure such torture?

Human like distorted cries echoed in the area as he steadily kept washing out the red marks from his white fur, firmly believing the words of the young girl. She seemed smart and Fei never thought that a girl with such kind face could hurt him or want him dead. As he sat down on the shore, he hoped this pain was only temporary and the healing of his wounds weren't too far away, after all, a journey was before him.

He looked back at the outlines of Oki Island. Suddenly it seemed to be so far away, with the trees and the big rock merging into the vast blue of the sea and the skies. A half day ago, he thought there will be a way to return to his home and he lulled himself into the delusion that he will arrive next day, giving Sakisaka the yarn from Inaba...

But right now? Now this goal was everything but possible. He was alone, cold while lukewarm blood trickled down his skin, under the wet fur. He wanted to see Wandaba and Sakisaka. He wanted to meet them for one last time and apologize for what he'd done. For making them worry. For killing himself even after they warned him about the dangers of the sea.

"I'm sorry." he muttered never taking away his gaze from the lonely island.