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Jaha had met, fought, and killed many martial artists. Some had transformation powers that even the mad demon could not acquire, yet surpassed.
In this current life, it was not a surprise to know such beings, and indeed, it was good fortune that he had one in reach.
Though the martial skills, or general way of living, of this one might be called into question.
Jaha studied the red fox. It sat on its hind, a fluffy tail tucked around it.
"Alright," he said, his blue sleeve waving, "you can change back now."
There was a soft 'pop', and Seong Tae reappeared, dressed in similar blue shades.
Jaha tilted his head. "Clothes and accessories don't affect your appearance, or vice versa."
Seong Tae shrugged, spreading his hands. "Of course it doesn't! I'm a natural fox, you know!"
........
Some months later, Seong Tae found himself slung over Jaha's left shoulder as he leapt into the sky, boosted by an enormous amount of qi.
That extra qi was recently acquired from a treasure, stolen by a group greedy murderers and absorbed in turn by Jaha.
Seong Tae scrabbled around and nipped his ear lobe when they cleared the area. He would have continued to nip Jaha out of sheer pettiness, which he had done multiple times before, but stopped when Jaha ran a warm hand over his fur.
Seong Tae dropped to the ground and forced himself to remain standing stiff out of spite, despite Jaha's continuous soothing motion from head to rump.
Jaha stopped and sat under a tree to meditate. Seong Tae finally allowed himself to stretch fully and curled up next to Jaha.
After a time, Jaha breathed out slowly and opened his eyes, ending his meditation. He picked up the snuffling Seong Tae, who stretched in his arms, tossing and turning.
Seong Tae shuffled over his shoulder, wacking his tail lightly across Jaha's face. He felt Jaha sigh and stroke his tail gently.
Jaha leapt again without warning, but Seong Tae was prepared. They landed back in Ilyang at one of Seong Tae's inns.
Seong Tae slid down his back and shook out his sleeves when he transformed. He turned around to see Jaha facing him.
"I'll ask them to get a bath ready."
Jaha interrupted Seong Tae when he made to leave. "Do you have my clothes here?"
Seong Tae rolled his eyes at Jaha. "Every one of my inns has your clothes, obviously!"
"They're my inns, Seong Tae."
"I know!" Seong Tae grumbled to himself as he left. Then again, Seong Tae thought, had he actually finalised the transfer through the government papers?
Though Jaha would count those thoughts as treason and challenge him to a duel. Forget it, thought Seong Tae, picking out a pale pink inner robe for Jaha.
Seong Tae huffed as he carried the robes back to the room. Serve Jaha right for wearing black all the time, like he worked as an executioner.....then again, he did kill a lot of people.
Jaha wore the white and pink without complaint. Seong Tae was suspicious. Not even a question or complaint?
He turned away in a huff when Jaha looked at him, missing a ghost of a smile.
........
Seong Tae was injured again. This was getting old. He was getting old.
Honestly! Couldn't those uncivilised barbarians learn some manners and announced themselves instead of ambushing some travelling entertainers??
He hissed in pain as Chae Hyang tore off part of her robes and tied it around his arm. He had raised his arm to block a dagger swinging down towards Chae Hyang and sustained a deep cut.
They had two carriages with two horses each, the servants allowed to sit on the back. Seong Tae was sitting with Chae Hyang and their musical instruments and costumes, while the other performers shared the other carriage.
Chae Hyang was rapidly getting the hang of running an inn, and combining the performance aspect of a brothel with an inn without the prostitution was proving to be rather a hit in town.
As manager, Seong Tae often had to battle rumours without hurting the relations between the flower pavilions and the actual brothels.
Chae Hyang and some other performers were recently invited to a neighbouring town's inn to perform. This was a great opportunity to promote business relations and improve their name.
They had a relatively successful run for three days, and Seong Tae had managed to secure possible visits to other towns.
Everyone was on their way back to Ilyang when they were attacked by robbers. Seong Tae had heard of distant unrest in the west due to the imperial family's inner conflicts but had not expected mountain robber gangs to enter Ilyang so easily, not with the number of martial clans in the region.
He had experience with robber gangs and vagrants, but staying in Ilyang for a long time had lowered his guard.
The other carriage of performers and staff had fled, hopefully straight back to town. They had to report this to the county governor, as martial clans could only do so much.
The robbers had stopped fighting, and now surrounded the pair. The moment the first knife struck the interior of their carriage, Seong Tae pushed Chae Hyang down and forced the horses as fast they could.
Both carriages raced down the road, the robbers catching up fast. Seong Tae grabbed his sword and shoved the reins back to the driver.
"Go!" He shouted, jumping down from the carriage. He rolled upright and drew his sword, slashing the legs of the robbers' horses who were galloping too fast to slow down in time.
Some fell hard from their horses, but others remained steady. Seong Tae fought quick and dirty, stabbing those were down and going for everywhere he could reach.
Most horses had scattered in panic, and a few robbers had spat at Seong Tae before going after their horses.
Seong Tae watched the carriages speed away, and he tried to escape. However, he had barely crashed through the undergrowth of the forest when he slammed into Chae Hyang.
His eyes widened in shock. He grabbed her upper arm, half-noting that she was holding something in her hands.
He dragged her along, and noted that Chae Hyang's shoes were not made for running. Seong Tae resolved to order proper, yet decorative shoes from the town's cobblers for his performers.
While he was distracted, Chae Hyang had heard them coming. She yanked Seong Tae down, just in time to avoid a flying dagger.
Seong Tae blocked the second one with his arm, and now Chae Hyang was bandaging him surrounded on all sides.
The robbers were not numerous in number. Seong Tae supposed that they must have split from their main gang to leave the unrest behind as quickly as they could.
The robbers must have seen the state the pair was in, and knew that they could mot offer them much money. However, Seong Tae doubted the men would easily release them.
He was right. One robber drew his sword and charged at Seong Tae, roaring. He was struck aside with qin strings, courtesy of Chae Hyang, whom he had overlooked.
He collapsed, bleeding heavily from his deep gashes across his face and ear. The other robbers charged them at once, and the pair fought wildly, swords clashing.
Chae Hyang flexed her qin strings, which were a combination of thick animal guts and thin metal. She wove around, striking their faces and ripping material from their arms and legs.
Seong Tae was doing his best to hold up his side, ducking to avoid even more flying knives. He used his sword to deflect what he could, working effortlessly with Chae Hyang.
Soon, a large blast of qi flattened the air above them, making them wince. A dancing sword flew by, ending the bloody skirmish in mere seconds.
"You're a quick learner, Chae Hyang," said Jaha, stepping forward. Chae Hyang bowed towards him. She had minor cuts all over, and Seong Tae instantly fretted over his main musician.
Not that Seong Tae wasn't grateful for Jaha's help, but the man had not brought horses along.
Seong Tae told Chae Hyang to get on his back. "You can't walk back to Ilyang like this, you'll ruin your feet and take even longer to recover," he snapped, even while he fussed over her hands and face.
"Does she know?" Jaha said. "What? Know what?" Seong Tae asked blankly.
"I'll carry both of you. Chae Hyang, on my back, arms tight. You," he pointed to Seong Tae, who was sheathing his sword, "in my arms."
Seong Tae wanted to argue, but he saw Chae Hyang's pained expression as Jaha adjusted her arms, and the fight went out of him.
Seong Tae held tightly onto his sword as he transformed. Unfortunately, the sword did not transform with him, and the red fox dropped with a whine.
Jaha lifted Seong Tae and his sword, then ran back to Ilyang. The other performers were unharmed, and had sent for physicians immediately.
Seong Tae retained enough clarity of mind to transform back into human before they reached the inn. Jaha left Chae Hyang to the physicians, and inspected Seong Tae's injuries after they were done.
Both would have to apply balms and drink bitter medicines for a week, with Seong Tae being ordered for more bed rest and Seong Tae ordering a break for the staff and even longer rest for Chae Hyang in turn.
Thankfully, his bandages could transform with the fox form. Seong Tae learnt that the hard way when he accidently pressed against his wounds and he popped into a fox.
Seong Tae did not fight it, and fell into a deep sleep before Jaha re-entered.
He woke up with Jaha next to him, and curled around him, uncaring of his form, and went back to sleep.
Seong Tae woke up again, with a hand carding through his fur. He nuzzled against the arm, which turned into a firm grasp of his shoulder.
Jaha helped him sit up. Seong Tae grimaced as he had more wounds than he realised. He drank the medicine, then popped back into a fox to rest.
Jaha stroked his fur for days.
........
"I thought you would be a white fox," said Jaha. "Because of your hair. Or a nine-tailed fox from myth."
Seong Tae snorted. "Sorry for the disappointment, master."
Seong Tae had chanced upon one of Jaha's training sessions. He taught the performers differently from the martial artists, teaching those who wanted to learn and coaching them on what they were comfortable with.
They had little to no qi, or even if they did, it would take a lifetime of training to be a master at it. Chae Hyang, for one, took to the qin.
She excelled at music, and so Jaha had taught her how to use the qin strings as whips and traps. And how to disguise other materials as qin strings, thought Seong Tae, watching with pride as Chae Hyang cut a pot in half.
Chae Hyang greeted Seong Tae. "You're supposed to rest, Manager Cha." She left to practice her instruments as Jaha came up to Seong Tae.
Seong Tae rested his head on Jaha's shoulder as Jaha's hand moved to pet his hair.
He was getting used to Jaha in both fox and human form, having woken to Jaha's mindless tracing over his back in inner robes, and the constant stroking of his fur.
Seong Tae was not too sure about his ancestry. He assumed that his parents were unlikely to be fox spirits, but he couldn't be sure about the rest of his family.
Jaha nodded. "I'll set a ban on fox hunting."
"What."
"You could be hurt by accident," Jaha frowned lightly at him. Seong Tae couldn't argue, and headbutted Jaha in response.
On some days, Seong Tae would stretch luxuriously on the bed and refused to let Jaha pet him.
Jaha would wait until he turned back into human form and threaten to cart him around all day in front of the staff and customers.
Seong Tae had dared him until Jaha swept him off the ground; then he hid his pink face into the crook of Jaha's neck.
"That's the same pink you wanted to see me wear," said Jaha. Seong Tae blinked at him, before remembering the pale pink inner robe Jaha had worn a few times.
He hid his face again, and Jaha huffed at his thin skin, lightly nipping his red ear the same way Seong Tae did to him.