Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 172- WINGS!

[Keeno POV]

“So, let me get this straight, through a series of unfortunate events, you’re a week and a half away from the city still, you just got attacked by a monster that hasn’t been seen in thousands of years, and now my two birds are the size of human children with four wings, glowing eyes, and with the ability to share their vision with me?” (Keeno)

‘Pretty much.  By the way, can you ask Goddess Amaterasu to beat the God of Fate for us?  We all blame him for this.” (Mostima)

{For the record, he isn’t the one causing all of those problems.  It’s just bad luck.}

“Ama said it’s not Phobos, it’s just bad luck.  Not that we haven’t been having our own annoyances.  Geri and Freki keep having to be fished out of the ash, we’ve run into many more storms than yall have, and clearing all these fires has been giving me crippling headaches.  Who knew being able to feel things through fire would have side-effects like that?  Not me!” (Keeno)

“It is quite the surprising development, though we have made much better progress despite all these inconveniences.” (Volundr)

“True.  We’ve taken care of all of the flames we planned on, so we’re waiting out of sight of the city.  If you don’t mind, I’d like you to send either Huginn or Muninn here so Ama and I can check them out.” (Keeno)

“Got it…Damn, Huginn really wanted to go I guess, it took off so fast.” (Mostima)

“Heh.  Huginn was always the clingier of the two.  Anyway, we’ll stay here for the time being, keep in contact.” (Keeno)

“Gotcha.  We’re setting up camp for the night right now, but we’ll save some of this meat for you.  It loses out to the scorpion meat, but it’s still good, from what I remember at least.” (Mostima)

“Thanks.” (Keeno)

With that, my sight shifted back to here.  It was a weird feeling, seeing through Huginn and Muninn’s eyes, especially when they separated.

“Master?” (Geri)

“Head in pain again?” (Freki)

“No, just weird seeing through the eyes of birds, everything is so much more vivid, though seeing through Huginn’s eyes makes me want to redouble my efforts in trying to fly myself.” (Keeno)

“Hmm.  Seeing as we have met our goal and have nothing better to do than wait, should I assist you in this endeavor?  I may not be inclined to flight myself, but I used to be quite good at instructing the younger dragons in the use of their bodies.” (Volundr)

“We can try, though I do feel like I need to ask this.  What happened?  Why are there so little dragons now?  From the way you’ve spoken this entire time, there used to be a lot of us.” (Keeno)

“It was the Fiends.  Those abominations nearly eradicated all of us.  It was a dark time, those days.  The horrors haunted my nightmares for centuries.  It’s a good thing that our lifespans are practically eternal, else I’m afraid most of us would have died already, your mother and Eblana’s sister being examples of exceptions…though my friend in Tamist…I know not how he died or why his offspring turned out the way he did…tis truly a shame.” (Volundr)

“I’m not looking forward to going there, in all honesty.” (Keeno)

“The people of that country are interesting and quite friendly, despite their chosen homeland.  Tis a shame that disgraceful lizard has ruined our great reputation there.” (Volundr)

The vitriol in his voice when talking about Tamist’s resident lizard was palpable.

“Well, that’s enough about him, let’s move on to flying and manifesting my wings on command.” (Keeno)

“We wanna see them!” (Geri)

“They will make Master even more majestic!” (Freki)

I tried manifesting my wings, but the only thing that appeared were my horns and a few small sparks on my back.

“Hmm.  What do you usually do to manifest your wings completely?” (Volundr)

“Most of the time it’s when I get emotional or think of all the things that are mine.” (Keeno)

“Hmhmhmhmhm.  Your possessiveness is admirable.  Then, if you’ll allow me to be so bold.  What would you do if I tried to take your little friends?  Your loved ones?” (Volundr)

This got Geri and Freki to start growling at him, the flames at the corners of their eyes becoming small infernos. My horns had nearly turned white, and I knew my wings were fully manifested without having to look back. The surrounding temperature started skyrocketing and I felt the ash beneath my feet hardening into glass.

“I know, rationally, that you are just saying that to help me…but it really pisses me off.  They are MINE!  They are MY treasures!  MY precious ones. NO ONE is allowed to have them but ME!” (Keeno)

I was right up in Volundr’s face, fuming while he retained his calm demeanor.

“I understand, child.  Now, before you calm down and your wings fade, learn the feeling of having them.  Close your eyes and focus on your core.” (Volundr)

Growling, I closed my eyes and focused on my core because it just felt right to. It was like a tranquil lake constantly being fed by small rivers of mana and Divinity. Said rivers were wide and had a slow, rhythmic flow that seemed to pulse like a heart.  The rivers symbolized my limbs. Eight going to my arms, legs, and each tail. Fix went to my head, two for my eyes, two for my ears, one for my head in general and the smallest one my horns.  Looking around my core, I found another very small creek of power running to my back. It felt dammed up with some kind of blockage. Willing a small, even mix of mana and Divinity to that spot the blockage began to clear, giving me a sense of release I didn’t know was even needed.

Opening my eyes I glanced back and saw my wings were a steadier flame than the wild, sputtering one they usually were. They actually resembled the wings of a dragon now.

“Why did it take me this long to figure this out?” (Keeno)

“In my experience, having a third party give suggestions opens up more opportunities.  Now, for the flying part, I am sadly unqualified to help. I know not how the mechanics of flight work with wings of flame and the body of a kitsune, especially one with four tails.” (Volundr)

{Oh!  My time to shine then!}

“Ama, you’re always shining.” (Keeno)

{Thank you, Keeno.  Now, empty your mind, Keeno.  I’m going to try and give you the information instead of explaining it.}

I did as Ama said and tried to empty my mind. I was surprisingly difficult, especially since it was Ama who asked.  Nearly an hour, which I didn’t notice, later, my mind was as empty as I could get it.  Sensing this, Ama pushed the information into my head, making it feel like a white-hot stake was shoved into my eyes and ears and melting my brain.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (Keeno)

I fell to my back, sweating and panting, my vision swimming and my throat sore and dry.

{KEENO!?  I’M SO SORRY!!!!!  I DIDN’T MEAN TO PUSH IT IN SO HARD!!!}

“Hehehe.  How lewd, Ama.” (Keeno)

{…Pfft!  Seriously though, are you alright?}

“A bit numb and the headache I could do without, but I’m fine.” (Keeno)

{Did the information take?  I hope so, I don’t want to out you through that again.}

I closed my eyes and tried to find the information Ama pushed into my head before realizing I didn’t know how to find it.

“Describe it for me please.” (Keeno)

{It should hold a concept of a spell that allows solidification of the flames and-}

“Super fine heat manipulation that would allow for manipulating air currents and stuff?” (Keeno)

{That’s it.}

“Then its in there.  Let’s see if it works then.” (Keeno)

I focused on my wings and sent some mana to them.  The blue flames slowly lost their etherealness and began to look more solid.  It was a weird feeling, seeing something solid on my back, but not feeling anything with them.  With this fact, I stopped channeling mana.

“I don’t think it’s going to work.” (Keeno)

{Why?}

“There is no feeling.  How would I be able to adjust temperature or wing tilt without being able to actually feel the wind?” (Keeno)

“Yes.  That is a very important part of flight.  With no feeling, aside from what Princess Okami has already said, without feeling, you wouldn’t know when you hit a spot of dead air or the minute static feeling if one is flying in a storm so as to avoid lightning.” (Volundr)

{Hmm.  I’ll see what I can do to add feeling to your wings, but I think that will be more on your side of things, Keeno.}

I nodded my head.

“Oh, right, Ama, are you ready for tomorrow?” (Keeno)

{Yes.  I also invited Hresvelgr over for a bit, so you’ll finally get to meet her.  I’ll see if Fu and Moco can also come, and we can make it a party.}

“Sounds fun.  What about Red?” (Keeno)

{That’s a you question.}

“She isn’t answering me, so I thought I’d ask you.” (Keeno)

{I can go and check the meeting room, but I doubt she’s there.}

“Ok.” (Keeno)

“Master, master!  Are you finished?” (Geri)

“Yes.  What do you need, Geri?” (Keeno)

“I would like to use Master’s tails to sleep tonight!” (Geri)

“Fine.” (Keeno)

“Me too, Master?” (Freki)

“I have four of them, so take one each for the night.” (Keeno)

“YES!” (Geri)

“Hehehe.  Master so fluffy and nice.” (Freki)

“Hehe.  The vibrancy of youth.  How I wish I could be that energetic again.” (Volundr)

“You’re much spryer than you give yourself credit for.” (Keeno)

“Heh.  If you’d known me in my youth, you’d be saying something different.” (Volundr)

“Speaking of the past, mind telling me another story about Mum?  The last one about how she became Queen of Dragons was fun.” (Keeno)

“Hmmm.  How about a story about the time she destroyed an entire kingdom because that kingdom’s ruler wanted her as his wife?” (Volundr)

“…Sounds interesting, though just that alone makes me wonder what she saw in whoever it was she fell for that led to her getting killed the first time.” (Keeno)

“That I don’t know.  When the rest of us found out that happened, we were all just as confused.  I fear though that it is something most of us will never know.  It was a topic that was brought up at the meeting, but she dodged the question, and it was obvious it was something she never wanted brought up again.” (Volundr)

“Well, that makes sense.  I wouldn’t want to give away something that got me killed the first…time…” (Keeno)

“Master?” (Geri)

“What’s wrong, Master?” (Freki)

“Don’t worry about it…just remembered something I didn’t want to.” (Keeno)

To soothe the two who still seemed worried, I patted their heads.  They began smiling, though I could still see the concern deep in their eyes.  I sat up on the edge of the cave Volundr had made and got comfortable before I waved two of my tails at the two Spirits.  They grabbed onto one each and began snuggling into them like they were body pillows.  It was then that Volundr started his story.

Chaos Realm:

…

Order: What’s wrong?

Nothing.  It just…feels like Astraea is never here anymore.

Order: It’s been a day since we let her have an extended sleepover with Evelyn.

I know, but with her there, and Nykuro visiting Swil for a while, it feels…empty.  I mean, even Luna and the others are busy right now.

Order: Well, I’m free, and it HAS been a long time since we had the house just to the two of us.

True…wanna play a game?

Order: What kind?

One of those fighting games that is popular in Luna and Keeno’s old worlds.  Each time one of us loses, the loser has to remove one article of clothing.

Order: You’re on!

HAHAHA!  I won’t go easy on you, my wife!

Order: I don’t want you to!  It makes everything much more satisfying that way!