Breakfast went by quickly, with how much had happened yesterday. Nui was in a good mood while stuffing her face, and Effie had a healthy appetite. To Rashomaru that was a good sign, as she needed all she could get to heal from her injuries. When she held up her bowl after calling their names, Nui was more than happy to pile more food into it. Even though Nui didn't live far from him, there must have been times where she would get lonely. They only had each other and Genjiro, while everybody else they knew either moved away or forgot. Coming out of his daze, he realized Nui's overbearing hospitality was getting out of hand. "Nui–Nui!! Stop, you're giving her too much rice! It's a mountain!" The rice was now twice the height of the bowl itself, and the fox was trying to cram more vegetables into it. "Aww, but she's hungry…fiiine." With the sun now out, everyone was feeling better. Putting away the dishes, Nui said they should show Effie around. Getting fresh air would do her good.

However the language barrier was still a problem. "Maybe we'll have to wait on giving her a tour." The fox mused. Effie wouldn't be able to understand the names of the places even if they wrote them down for her. "I think it'll be fine Nui. Even if she can't remember the names she'll know what the places are. I'll send a letter to someone I used to know when I did training at the monastery and see if they are in town. Shiro left a few years ago, but he's the only one who might be able to help translate." Shiro was a boy he had met in his sword training lessons. He was the first foreigner Rashomaru had ever seen and was a live-in student with the priests. He remembered asking Shiro why he came here, and the older boy said a teacher had asked the priests to take him in. At that time it didn't seem like he wanted to talk more about it, so Rashomaru didn't ask. The boy's name wasn't actually Shiro, but the name stuck when Rashomaru mispronounced what he told him. The boy also had silver-white hair, something that amazed the Ataiyan boy. He didn't know humans could have hair like that too.

It was best to introduce new places to Effie slowly, and Rashomaru stopped briefly to let his family know he had stayed over at Nui's. He didn't mention Effie just yet, still embarrassed and ruminating over how to break the news to them. Nui meanwhile brought Effie to see the places she and Rashomaru used to play at while doing the best to communicate with hand signs and pointing. Rashomaru had to deliver his letter to the monastery by himself, as Nui complained she and Effie would die if they climbed up all those stairs. It wasn't an easy climb for sure but after travelling to and from it for years he had gotten used to it. The priests greeted him and asked how his family fared, and they said they would send the letter to his friend. Delivery would take some time, so he would have to wait for an answer. 

It was a long ten days until he received word that Shiro had arrived, and this time he wasn't going to let Nui squirm her way out walking up the stairs. While the fox moaned about it being a trial of hell, Rashomaru turned to Effie and tried to ask her through motions if she would like him to carry her up. Normally Nui would be the one carried, but they didn't want Effie to get hurt so the fox would have to bear the climb. The priests at the monastery had great tolerance towards spirits, and as long as they didn't cause trouble they left them be. Nui herself had been helped by the head priest there, whom she would call 'Gramps'. Finally at the top, there were two new faces for Nui and Effie to meet. Rashomaru saw Shiro standing in the gate with a girl next to him and the older boy waved enthusiastically.

"Hey Rashomaru! Wow, you're so tall now!" Shiro had left before he turned twelve, and now he towered over his friend. His friend wasn't short himself, but everyone was small next to someone that was six feet and four inches. The white-haired boy gave him a big hug, and tried to pat his head. "It's good to see you too Shiro! Is that…is the person behind you your girlfriend?" He asked shyly, remembering Effie again. "This is Sapphire, she's a new friend I made after I finished my training here! I'm studying with another sect of priests in the capital, and she came up to visit from Iria. That's where she was studying before we met." The girl was lovely, and her hair was like the color of Terra irises. He gave a polite bow to her. It didn't take long for Nui to introduce herself, and Shiro was amazed at her number of tails. His interest made Nui pleased as she finally found somebody who appreciated them. Then he introduced Effie. "This is Effie, she's staying with Nui now. We don't know where she came from, and we don't understand what language she speaks. She doesn't understand Ataiyan either, so it's been a bit difficult for all of us."

Effie was glad for all the extra food as it gave her enough energy. Effie enjoyed all the sights that they showed her and for the most part she understood what she was looking at. The city was amusing to her and she paid a lot of attention to detail. She gracefully accepted Rashomaru’s offer and held onto him as he carried her up the stairs. It was easy on her body this way. Normally she would have been able to get through the stress of the stairs but at the moment she was fine with this.

Sapphire was a curvy girl with long purple hair and eyes like literal sapphires. She was tenderly holding Cyril’s hand. She let Cyril answer first but in true Cyril fashion he was a bit lost on the whole concept that they had. “The answer is yes,” Sapphire chuckled towards Rashomaru. She kissed Cyril’s cheek and smiled back at the group.

Effie got down off of Rashomaru’s back and bowed back to Cyril and Sapphire. Once the name Iria came out Effie started to speak. “I’m from Iria!” Her words boomed for the first time in a while.

“Excellent!” Sapphire put her hands together after she let go of Cyril. She went over to Effie and they started to speak. “She is from the Iria area. She got chased up the mountains from the Thundering Plains and fell off of them from a high cliff. She was being chased by a group of hunters. They overwhelmed her. She also says thank you for taking care of her and allowing her to stay with you while she recovers.”

It was getting exhausting translating but Sapphire had an idea as she grabbed Rashomaru and Effie. “I can fix this.” She pulled out a jar of ink and a brush. With great precision she drew some special markings across both of their skin. A few magic glows later and she seemed satisfied. “It will only work for them though.” Sapphire said something to Effie and let both of them go.

For a moment Effie blushed as she looked up at Rashomaru. “Sapphire says that you can understand me now.” It was better than nothing but it was almost like her Irian translated to Rashomaru perfectly for him to understand. “Thank you for pulling me out of the river.”

Rashomaru had figured as much that Shiro and Sapphire were a pair. His friend was kind, but was a bit…odd. Perhaps it was how he just was, as the older boy told him he was half-human too. Spirits' understanding of concepts such as love were different from how humans perceived it. Seeing Sapphire kiss Shiro was enough to make Nui riled up again, and they were all surprised when Effie started speaking with the orchid-haired girl. It was a good thing he had sent the letter after all. Rashomaru and Nui watched as the two girls talked, Effie finally able to speak with someone. Sapphire then explained to them in Ataiyan on how Effie managed to end up in Nisshoki. She had come a long way, all the way through the mountains that separated them from the stormy lands southward. Shiro and Rashomaru's faces were worried when Sapphire mentioned hunters, as both boys knew of such people under different circumstances. For Rashomaru, the topic hit close to home but he didn't say a word. He thought of his brother. "Oh…so that's why you had all those nasty cuts." Nui said, her ears and tails flattening. "I bet the heavens were watching over you, since Nekomaru found you instead!" She grinned, her cheery self again.

Then Sapphire did something incredible. With a bit of ink and magic, she painted something on him and Effie. The girl whispered to Effie, then stepped back. And to his surprise, he could understand what Effie was now saying. “Sapphire says that you can understand me now. Thank you for pulling me out of the river.” Blinking, he then smiled bashfully. "When I saw you in the water, I was worried I that was too late. Every year we hear of people losing family members when it floods, even strong swimmers. Sometimes they get fished out by river spirits like the serpents or kappa, others are not so lucky." Looking down, he said: "I'm glad you are alright." Nui looked at them, with her ears twitching. "Hey, hey what'd she say? You can understand each other now?" He nodded, and without skipping a beat she grinned a fox's smile. "So is she mad that you stole her first ki–eEEYAAAAAAH!!!" Nui's question was abruptly cut short by an annoyed Rashomaru pinching the tips of her ears. 

Completely missing the point, Shiro asked innocently: "Oh you guys kiss too?" Despite the pain of her eartips, Nui was choking on her own laughter as her cheeks were puffed from her feeble attempts at containment. Right away Rashomaru's face was red and he looked away to the side. "I though she was drowning s-so… That doesn't count, does it?" Nui went into a thinly veiled coughing fit while Shiro's face had an expression of a painfully, obliviously pure happiness. The priests were enjoying the scene the young people were making and Rashomaru was attempting to deny he had done anything of the sort. There was no use hiding it now, if Shiro believed it then he'd have to face his family soon. He covered his face with his hands.

Effie watched Rashomaru’s smile and got sheepish with him as well. “I’m sure if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have made it out of the river. I can’t remember how long I had been floating… A few days… maybe.” She put a hand to her head as if she had a headache. “I can’t remember but it feels like I was in the river for a long time.” No normal human could have survived all of that and even though Effie had all the traits of a human there was just something off about her.

Though she couldn’t understand what Nui was saying she still giggled at Rashomaru pulling on her ears. She could tell that something funny was said since the girl was getting dished some punishment. It seemed to her that Nui was a troublemaker of some sort but only for fun.

Sapphire was quick on the draw to translate Cyril but stopped herself at the end and looked at him. “I don’t think they do.” However, the damage was done as Effie was blushing with Rashomaru. “I mean! IF YOU ARE! You two look rather cute together with how tall Rashomaru is!” She made sure to translate it for Effie too but it only had the demon-touched girl about ready to faint.

Effie looked up at Rashomaru for a moment. “I think it does.” If only by pure definition of it. She shyly put her hands behind her back and held them together as she bounced on her heel lightly. She didn’t want to stress out her wounds though. “How long will the spell last for?”

Sapphire mused it over. “As long as the marks stay put it should last as long as the ink stays! I know! Cyril, don’t you think we should keep coming over so we can keep Effie comfortable? At least until she can learn Ayaitian?”

Effie had a smile on her face now as she waited to hear from the other boy. That would be wonderful.

“How long do you plan on staying?” Sapphire was now curious. “You are a long way from home… Won’t your parents be upset? HOW OLD ARE YOU ANYWAYS?!” She was now in straight-up scholar mode as she looked Effie over.

“I don’t have a mother and all I have is my adopted father. He told me to stay here so I can get better and it might be better if I stay here until I know the hunters moved on. I’m seventeen as of two full moons ago.”

Both Rashomaru and Effie were even more self-conscious with what was happening. For sure his head was spinning. Sapphire then asked Shiro something, which he didn't catch but it seemed like he was agreeing with her. "Sure! I'm going to be in the capital for a while. I think…" The silver-haired boy counted on his fingers looking at the sky. "…A few years. They said training takes a while, and it might be longer depending on how well I do." Sapphire was already starting to ask Effie questions, eager to know more about her. Shiro himself was watching with a smile and Nui was now behaving. From what she said, Effie was adopted. Rashomaru wondered how her father knew where she was and her situation so quickly, as well as why she was being chased. But what interrupted that train of thought was the fact she was seventeen. Right away he could see the fur on Nui's tails puff out in his mind and those expressive ears of hers stand up straight. The fox girl had a hand over her mouth with an exaggerated gasp, and Rashomaru shot her a glaring look. "Nui…Don't you dare." He knew what she was thinking, or at least knew what she might be thinking. "Wheeew~ I can't believe it! And an older girl too~" Nui giggled, fanning herself. "Not a word of this to anyone–especially Genjiro."

The fox glanced sideways, tails swishing. "Mmm I dunno…" "If you do, I'll never make you mochi ever again." The threat of losing food privileges made her do a double take and she became conflicted. Ultimately free food won out, and she grumbled while reluctantly keeping her lips sealed. Shiro hadn't gotten distracted and was the first to ask one of the more important questions. "If it's ok for me to ask, why are the hunters after you?" Rashomaru himself wanted to ask as well, though he had felt it was too soon. He didn't think Effie had done anything that justified her being hunted down. And managing to survive the rushing currents for a few days might have been what had kept her alive. He too wanted to ask about the marking he had seen on accident when they were treating Effie's wounds last night, but would she want that information shared? Most might choose to ask about her familial circumstances, but to him, her being adopted wasn't anything unusual. He himself knew someone like that, and Nui herself had been half-raised by the priests of this monastery until she was old enough to live on her own. 

Sapphire clapped her hands together. “Excellent! We might be able to teach her how to read and write Ayaitian while we’re here. I think I can get leave from the academy to be able to teach someone.” It looked like Effie’s age had caused some kind of problem but it did make her chuckle towards Rashomaru. Looked like she was older from the way they were acting.

“What’s… Mochi?” Effie tilted her head towards Rashomaru. She was intrigued by foods she didn’t know and most of them she had already liked.

Then that question came and Effie backed away from the group a little. It should have been fine. She looked towards Nui and Rashomaru. She could read their auras and they were a bit like her. “Because I’m demon-touched. My life is in service to a demon until the day I die.”

Sapphire tilted her head. “But why?”

Effie rolled her shoulders and realized she hadn’t ever really talked about it to anyone. “I don’t know. According to my Father, I was born with the mark. It symbolizes what would be a ball and chain for most people. You see my adopted father is my demon master. I don’t know the circumstances of the hows or the whys but that’s why I was almost killed as an infant. Father saved me from the river they threw me into. He raised me away from demons and humans. He was afraid of the influence they could have or what they would do. When he finally let me out of where we lived he was right to worry. Most humans get prickly skinned around me almost like they can sense it… and the ones who can… They panic and hunt me down.”

Effie crossed her arms to almost hug herself. “I can fight but I get overwhelmed easily. My father is my weapon in this case. He is a demon who can transform into weapons… and any magic he can use I can use it as well. That’s why they were after me. I’m a vessel… Well sort of. Most humans who end up in my position get killed by their demons. Normally these contracts are put into place by humans who are dying and the demons pray on that… but in this case, I was born with it.”

Sapphire frowned a bit. "That sounds awful Effie… I'm so sorry."

Effie shook her head. "I left home about four months ago to try and find my place outside the safe zone that I was in. Father is trying to regain energy right now… Once he can I will be able to summon him again so I can protect myself. As it stands it will be a long while… I think he used up a lot of energy to keep me alive in the river until someone found me."

When Effie told them the truth, instead of fear or hate–everyone present was understanding. Her relationship with her adoptive father was actually something common as far as Nui and Rashomaru knew. With Nui and Rashomaru's mother being spirits, the boy had heard of cases where children who were abandoned or in life-threatening situations were adopted by otherworldly beings. There was a female rain spirit who had spirited away a child who was being neglected when she found him crying in the rain. Unfortunately the child's birth parents suffered a fatal accident following his disappearance. Either way, it wasn't her fault for being who she was. Family was family. "I'm sure your father loves you dearly, even if he is bonded to you that way." Rashomaru said. Shiro and Nui nodded. "That's not fair…aww, Effie." The fox went to give the girl a hug, her ears flattening and tails low. "Don't they realize that because they act that way it makes us scared of them too?" Cyril himself felt bad hearing her answer, and understood where Nui was coming from. "It's hard to explain, but it sort of goes both ways like Nui said. Humans are scared because of what they call 'demons' can do, but a lot of times there are exorcists who hurt innocent beings too. Most of them never think to try talking things out; they're trained for the worst-case scenario and use that method against everything." 

There was an unhappiness in the silver-haired boy's eyes that normally wasn't present, and it was clear it was something he had seen or known personally. Sapphire was the only one who knew the reason why. To Rashomaru, he only knew his friend as being particularly kind and tolerant towards spirits. The similarities between Effie and his brother were too strong for Rashomaru to ignore. Taking her hand, he bent himself to be closer to her level and wholeheartedly pledged: "If you ever need help, I will come. I will be at your side no matter what–I promise." These were the same words he had said many years ago as a child when Genjiro came into his family. His father and mother were loving people, and in turn they taught their son to do the same. "We'll be here for you!" Nui said, taking Effie's other hand with a smile. "–'Cause we're friends!" Adding onto her sentiment, Rashomaru said: "We'll be your family." The half-fey boy joined the circle, making himself a spot. "You can count Sapphire and me too." 

Feeling it was time to break the tension, Nui let go of Effie's hand to playfully push the girl into her tall friend. "Ok enough tear-wiping! All these sad feelings are making me hungry! Let's eat! Nekomaru is going to treat us today!" He was caught off-guard and soon was fuming with anger at the fox's cheeky move. "What??! You just promised not to say anything!" Nui ran out of his reach, scampering down the steps chanting 'lunch' over and over while Rashomaru was left in a bind. "Come on, hurry up slowpokes! Rashomaru's dad makes the best pork noodle bowls out here and it's gonna get packed at lunch hour!" She called up at them. 

It was so weird to feel all of the support that her new friends were giving her. Sapphire looked towards Cyril and shook her head. “No, most of the time humans get scared and bite when they think they are cornered. That’s why Sularia got attacked the way it did. Even though we didn’t have a fighting force the humans were scared. Not all humans are that way but they are skittish of those of us who are long-lived.”

Effie nodded in agreement. It seemed that humans tended to be more scared of their mortality. “That seems to be my experience with them. I’ve managed to get away from them wherever they appear but this last group was very good at tracking me.”

Sapphire noticed the shift in Cyril’s poise. She took his hand and snuggled up to him laying a soft kiss to his cheek. “It’s okay.” She whispered into his ear.

Effie blushed towards Rashomaru and nodded with a smile. She wasn't used to all the love these people were so ready to give. She hugged all over them as Sapphire joined the group hug. “Food sounds good,” Effie looked up at Rashomaru even though he was clearly annoyed at Nui. “I’m still trying to get my energy back. I don’t want to be completely useless around here. I want to be able to help where I can!” She sounded so determined.

Effie and Sapphire spoke while they traveled down the stairs. She held onto Rashomaru’s back as he carried her down just as he had done up. “We decided that it would be a good idea to also treat Effie’s wounds. After lunch, I can take her into the forest and pick the local herbs around here. Mother taught me how to make salve so I can at least be of some help to make sure Effie gets back on her feet.” Sapphire flashed a smile at Cyril.

"Ok, when you guys are done eating we'll clean up and meet back…at Nui's house then?" Cyril was going to say the monastery, but remembered the winding steps. "Great! I'll go with Effie and Sapphire too. I wanna see if there are any mushrooms this time around." "Isn't it a little too early to find mushrooms after the rain?" Rashomaru asked. "Well…maybe there's some that were on logs…that were higher up?" Nui pouted at him questioning her logic. "If I find a big matsutake clump I'll let your dad have it to pay you back for lunch." The smell of food welcomed them before they saw the restaurant his family ran. It was a small building, with a couple of outside stools and seating indoors for a few dozen. Nui darted in to grab them a table and the back of a man in the kitchen area faced them as the person was furiously chopping something. At the sound of their chatter, a lady in Ataiyan attire came out to greet them. Her hair was black and her eyes a pale purple like wisteria. A bit of red was painted on her lips and at the corners of her eyes. At the sight of her, the tall boy bowed. "Mother, I'm back. I spent the night at Nui's yesterday. I brought a few friends over for lunch today." 

"Oh that's good to hear, we were worried when you didn't return home. Welcome, please have a seat. What would you like to eat?" Nui wanted udon, with extra meat. Shiro wanted to try the soba, and Rashomaru helped the two girls pick what they liked. His mother recognized Shiro back from his training days and Nui kept Rashomaru busy with badgering him to act as translator. Slices of freshly pickled vegetables were a luxury on rainy days, as they had been lucky to have plenty before the showers started. "I apologize for Nui being so pushy. She wants you to try everything." When they finished eating, he and Shiro helped bring the bowls back while the girls went on ahead. While washing the dishes, the boys caught up with how things were since their last meeting. Naturally he asked his friend about Sapphire, and the silver-haired boy eagerly told him how they had met to her family. 

It was time for them to meet back together, and the two walked down the familiar path Rashomaru knew like the back of his hand. Unfortunately they didn't reach Nui's house–as once they were close to the forest they heard screams. There were traces of smaller creatures fleeing, and the half-fey boy said he had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. They both ran and Rashomaru half-hoped they would be mistaken. He hoped it had just been an animal's cry, or the distorted screech of a bird. This time they weren't so lucky.

“Sounds good! This will be a good chance to teach Effie the plants around here!” Sapphire was like an encyclopedia of knowledge for most things. Growing up in the huge library that she had she knew plenty of things. She had never been an outdoorsy person and was almost always found in her mother’s library. Even now she was found in the academy’s library.

Effie looked up at Rashomaru as he apologized for Nui and she chuckled. “It’s fine. I’ll try whatever you all want me to. I’m not a very picky eater.” She couldn’t afford to be with the way her energy could be. Sapphire was refined with her choices and picked very simple things. Effie had a combination of many different things. She would get excited and drop the food on her chopstick to try something else. She even got Sapphire to try a few things off her plants.

The girl’s stomach appeared to be a bottomless pit which was funny considering how small she was. It spoke a lot about the vast magic wealth she had. When it was time for them to go on their own adventure Sapphire hugged Cyril and Effie watched as she was spun around. She tilted her head as it was weird for her to see. She hadn’t spent a lot of time in any towns due to the controversy of what she was.

Once Sapphire got them to a good spot she pulled out one of the skirts of her dress and began to pick different things. She told Effie of each property the plant had. This left Effie scratching her head as she tilted it from side to side. This was a lot of information to take in and Sapphire just kept going. Finally, they had most of the stuff they needed as they went to start back.

“We found you.” How had she been so complacent that she didn’t even notice they had gotten surrounded. Effie let her teeth grind for a moment as she dodged an incoming blow but she realized a little too late that Sapphire wasn’t as well read for combat as she was. Sapphire let out a shriek as she got a cut on her face. The herbal plants they had foraged flew out onto the ground.

“Sapphire!” Effie squeaked out before dodging another. She ran for Sapphire and took a sword to her side. She could feel the warmth from her falling onto the plants below. It appeared as though Sapphire had also taken a bit of damage to her arms. “You monsters.”

The area shook with heavy magical energy as she held out her hand. “Aelos,” she spoke as she ran a sharp fingernail across her wrist. Her blood hit the ground but unlike the wounds caused by the enemy, this blood was black. The sun appeared obscured for a few moments as a sword formed in her hands. “You all will pay.”

”Effie, you have to be careful. You could pass out at any point.”

“Got it.” She let the magic energy roar through her as she slashed. Black flames came up and began to attack the men. She took out a good chunk of the men before she stammered back onto her ass next to Sapphire. “Sapphire, if you can get away.” Sapphire shook her head. She couldn’t find the opening needed even if she wanted to.