"Please forgive me but I must ask Yasaka-sama," The worry on Marui's face was evident as he fidgeted at the slender horns on his head," How is Daidai doing? Is he keeping with his training? Is he eating well?….His mother wishes to know."
No one believed those last words, but despite this being the third time he's asked this week, Yasaka didn't even feel a lick of annoyance. She knew she would be just as worried, if not more, if their roles were reversed.
"Daidachi is fine," She smiled softly," He's already broken though and is now working on controlling his new found power. As for eating….let's just say food is the last thing on his mind right now. But worry not, that is only temporary. He'll be fine soon enough."
"Thank you Yasaka-sama." He rubbed a massive hand against the back of his head, a sheepish expression cross his countenance," Again, I am sorry for being so pushy..I know this is for the best but…"
"This is my first time seeing an Oni being sheepish!" Kiyo cackled while rocking back and forth on it's fluffy tail, a corked white jar clutched tightly between twin claws.
"Don't tease our Marui here.." Akiko giggled behind a light blue fan, her black eyes glimmered with obvious amusement," I think it's cute, Xoru-sama, would you be a dear and make su-"
"Already got it." The Tengu grinned the best they could, already holding up a small sheet of parchment with the Oni's sheepish expression painted in extreme detail. Each black brush stroke fine and perfect as it captured everything the Yokai had to offer.
"I must ask that we get back on track.." Nurarihyon coughed slightly before side eyeing the Oni who looked to have grown a few shades darker," But please make sure I get a copy."
"Same." Yū barked with laughter, their tail sending out small bolts of electricity as it wagged about happily.
Yasaka looked on warmly at the harmonious environment, people who should've been at each other's neck in the name of benefits were sitting around table laughing and joking with one another. This was the kind of comradeship she wanted to cultivate among her people, so that when the day comes where unilateral destruction is on their doorsteps, they can all stand united to fight to the bitter end.
But alas, all good things must come to an end.
"Nurarihyon since you are the one who called for this meeting, you may start us off." The blonde Kitsune sipped elegantly at a palm sized teacup, her ears relaxed and postures serene. It wasn't that she wasn't curious about why one of her advisors had called for this meeting, but she trusted that if it was something truly urgent he wouldn't have hesitated to bring it her personally.
"Thank you Yasaka-sama." The old man Yokai stood, leaning heavily on his wooden cane and pulled out a single opened letter in one hand," As you all may know my clan has a rather...unique relationship with the Shinto Faction, predominately the Five Principal Clans."
"Them…." Kiyo spat off to the side, a rarity given they had just taken a sip of their sake. And despite swearing to make sure they cleaned that puddle up, Yasaka wouldn't blame them for their reaction. In fact, none of the councilmen had upbeat or relaxed expressions anymore.
Yokai, The Five Principle Clans, and in conjunct the Shinto Faction never had the best relationship. After-all, The Five Principle Clans were originally mages that gained some form of power from various Shinto Kamis to 'exorcise' Yokai. In simplest terms, they were humans that made it their life business to hunt, kill or seal Yokai.
The 2 Factions had been at war for a long time until Yasaka and their family heads came to a very simple agreement.
Stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours.
The agreement had been in place for well over a century now and neither side has tried to bridge the divide between them. Sure there was a time where Yasaka had tried to join up with the Shinto Faction, but due to reasons that still frayed at her nerves, she didn't.
'What do they want?' She honestly didn't care anymore, they had decades to reach out to them since then,' Could they have heard about our new independence?'
They could be the case, having a faction that you thought would become nothing more than farming outpost was one thing but to have that same faction gain sovereignty was another. They must've been nervous.
"What do those thieves wants?"
Yū snarled, their eyes narrowing into mere slits. There was no love lost between the 2 forces, especially not these Yokai here who lived through that era. They went from being worshiped like gods to running and fleeing like rats due to those families. Each of them had their shrines stolen from them at one point in time.
"They wish to send a contingent of representatives here to possible form an alliance of sorts, it says that even joining The Shinto Faction isn't completely off the table."
Nurarihyon didn't beat around the bush, which Yasaka was glad for. Usually she enjoyed the theater but this was something serious. Joining a larger the Shinto Faction had been one of her greatest hopes in gaining independence from the other factions, strictly relying on the power of their Kamis or Gods.
But now that she's already achieved her goals, the offer had lost a lot of it's previous allure. Why did she need the support of gods when she had her Master back?
"I'll be the first to say that I think we should at least hear them out." He continued after noticing none of the council members were willing to speak of the matter. "I know we've had our differences, but we're not in a position to turn away possible allies like this. Sure, we've gain independence as a faction but that doesn't mean we can become like an island. We need to reach out to the outside world and involve ourselves in its shaping. We can't be isolated again like last time."
"…." It was the Raiju who snapped back at his words," I say we ignore them. They've made their stance on us abundantly clear, we're monsters in their haughty eyes. They're 'protectors' of the human race whiles we're vermin to be dealt with if we step out of line. Our keepers."
"My people use to span over multiple different clans…." Kiyo beady eyes were slightly hazy as they looked off into the distance, deep sadness was evident in that gaze. "And now, all the survivors are under the Endless Form Clan. I cannot in good conscious work with people who made Tanukis so rare."
"I just don't like them." Marui shrugged his massive shoulders," I've killed plenty of them in the past and I don't mind doing it again. The unified Oni Clans won't mind either….but as for working with them? No. The feud between us too great, they can keep their blasted Kamis."
"They've killed a lot of my people." Akiko said dowerly," This recent generation might not have been around during that time, but to us they look just like their ancestors. But even with all that said...I do recognize our need for allies. We're fine in the short run, but eventually other factions will begin to test us and if we're not ready, we'll possibly be in a worse position than before. So, I am open to hearing what they have to say at the very least."
"The Tengu will have no problem working with them." Xoru stated, cold eyes sent out a blank stare at every present," I won't put my own personal feelings on the table, but we can use them and their power. We don't even need to be friendly with them, if they're willing to keep everything professional then I don't see why not."
'3 for and 3 against…'
Yasaka wanted to curse at her advisors as they looked to her to break this tie breaker. Each side had their own ups and downs. It was true that due to the Kamis intervention, The Five Principal Clans had grown from a nuisance to an existential threat. They had slaughtered her people by the drozes as they chased them out of their own homes. Even she had been hunted down by some over zealous priests before, those spells had been somewhat worrying before but when they were imbued with a Kami's power they become simply deadly.
And that's if they decided to just kill you, and not going for capture. Just thinking of that possible fate sent a shiver down her spine, they had been known to capture Yokai and enslave them using specially prepared paper.
So it was very safe to say that she did not want slavers anywhere near her people, less they find one they like and just whisk them away.
But on the other hand, the backing they gained from their Gods made them a powerhouse that only other factions with their Deities could manage. That's why despite being neighbors to Yokai, no faction dared bothered them.
The amount of security they could gain by just opening a line of dialogue was already alluring enough as it.
'...But…' Her mind kept going back to them being slavers, she was sure they still had few sealed away Yokai turned into nothing but puppets. She couldn't risk this being a trap of some sort.
Yasaka had no idea what she would do if they somehow got their hands on her daughter…
'I would burn their precious clans to the ground..' That was a lie, if they even thought to touch a single hair on her precious kit, that would be the end of them. Gods or not.
"Just to emphasize, they wish to meet here?"
"Yes that is correct, Yasaka-sama."
Nurarihyon nodded, his beady eyes twinkling with sudden understanding.
"Allowing members of The Five Principal Clans into our seat of power is too dangerous, but also the backing they have is to great for us to outright ignore. The Shinto Faction is located in Japan as well, so we can at-least humor them. Nurarihyon, please inform them that we will set up a time and place that is appropriate to accommodate both forces. I know this isn't ideal, but its for the best to at least hear what they have to say. We cannot rely on hiding behind Grandmaster Yamato Iori forever. This is what it means to leaders, to put the needs of our people above our own desires. I despise them just as much as all of you. Kunou and I are the last golden Kitsunes in existence for a reason. I can never forgive them for that and I want nothing more than to grind them to dust for what they've done...But if we truly want to stand on the world stage, we can't afford to be alone."
"Understood, Yasaka-sama."
The Yokai, one and all, stood and bowed deeply to her in their own way. After all, if one of the last free Tenko Kitsunes alive could set aside her differences and open an ear for her most hated foe, then it would be shameful if they couldn't do the same.