#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Okiku Part II (Airisu POV): Post 43 Part 2
#Wss366 Spit #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever

“He is an ally,” the shaman said. “After a mob executed him, malice drove his spirit to cause floods and famine along the entire length of the Koma River. I tamed and bound him to a shrine, where he is now honored. For this, I am called Seirei-tsukai or Seirei no onna.”

I stretched out a wing, preening as if to say, “Look, Mistress, how clever I am!”

Next, I asked, “And that’s what you were referring to when you said, ‘He had finally listened.’ You meant, ‘Dōken-Shin sent me and my mistress?’”

“Yes, though my voice has weakened, I hoped he would obey. He was always an upright man, upholding his liege’s honor.”

This time I crowed out loud, “See, Mistress, we are here on the kami’s behalf. Don’t let him convince you he's doing you a favor.”

“Huh?” she said.

I didn’t explain. Instead, I hopped onto Mistress’s shoulder and resumed interrogating Seirei-onna. “How close was Sumika-sama to the truth? How far have things progressed?”

“I don’t know,” the woman said. Then she paused as a coughing fit bent her double. When she recovered, she #spat into the fire before continuing. “The lord pursued her, and I could see no good coming of it. The ox bones tell of tragedy. But what can I do about it? I can’t find my way off this mountain; the fog is too thick. And when it parts, so the stars are visible, they are all wrong, leading me off the path. The pages of my book have faded, and of my spirits only Dōken-Shin answers when I call. And he just tells me to wait.”

Sumika and I stared at the grimoire the shaman pulled from a bag. It was a twin to the one Mistress had found at her bookstore.

#TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Okiku Part II (Airisu POV): Post 43 Part 1
#Wss366 Spit #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever

Sumika’s version of Banchō Sarayashiki was muddled, but essentially correct. And there were her dreams, which definitely pointed to Okiku becoming a counting-obsessed onryō. Depending on how far events had progressed, we needed to either prevent the plate’s theft or reconcile Okiku to her fate.

Before returning to the Edo-era, I’d assumed it was the former, that it was another gift from Dōken-Shin, the romantic girlfriend Sumika dreamed of. But what if this was actually paying off part of our debt? If he owed the old woman, then we were acting as his agent.

I almost crowed; it was a wonderful theory! There was no way my mistress would gain a lover from this adventure. Honor prevented Okiku from abandoning her fiancé for someone else. The shaman was clear on that. The maiden had died a horrible death rather than dishonor herself.

Both stories and Sumika’s dream told of Okiku's murder. I bet we would be dealing with a vengeful ghost. And I ask you, what kind of relationship can you have with an onryō? That isn’t something that a vengeful spirit is capable of. Besides, Mistress might be silly, but she wasn’t a total pigeon. Not even she would want to be lovers with an Edo-era, grudge-bound ghost.

I cocked an eye at her. “Would she? No, impossible!”

I cackled to myself. Boy, was I glad I’d ceased to be a human, homo-messy-us. This was just the kind of screwed-up disaster they were prone to.

Despite Mistress’s instructions, I couldn’t keep silent any longer and burst out, “What’s your relationship with Dōken-Shin?”

Sumika glared at me, but did I care? Contrariwise, I was the brains of this team.

#TootFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Serial #SlowBurn #Yuri #NMFic #TimeTravel

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Banchō Sarayashiki (Sumika POV): Post 42
#Wss366 Quarry #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever

The woman examined the crow carefully, then nodded. "If your tsukai speaks the truth, I will release my quarry. Now, tell me the rest of the story. The crow says you are not done."

There isn't much more, and I'm sorry to have to relate it. Okiku couldn’t rest. The grudge she bore was so great that she haunted the well as an onryō, loudly counting the plates at night. When she reached the last and missing tenth plate, she screamed so horribly that anyone who heard it was said to go mad.

Eventually, a priest came, and as she reached nine, he shouted “Ten!” dispelling her.

“That’s it,” I said. “I think I’ve mixed different versions together, but the stories are similar in how Okiku meets her end and how she haunts the castle.”

“And the Lord?” the witch asked.

“The tales vary, but most agree he escaped unpunished,” I said. “It’s very unfair.”

“In tatters, in tatters. His honor was in tatters,” Airisu cawed.

The woman nodded, but remained silent. Then, with a sigh, she dished out a stew of grain and wild greens. Then, finally, said, “I doubt such a trick would dispel a grudge-bound spirit, but let us eat while I consider.”

#TootFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Serial #SlowBurn #Yuri #Folklore #NMFic #TimeTravel

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Banchō Sarayashiki (Sumika POV): Post 41
#Wss366 Cable #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever

I hated to resume the story. The romance I sensed between the witch and Okiku should have had a happy ending, but only tragedy lay ahead. I pretended to sip my tea, now grown cold, and then began again:

“All would have been well for Okiku,” I continued, “if Aoyama had been content with that. But instead, he devised a plan to trap the maiden. When she was away, he hid one of the ten plates.”

When he called for them to be shown to him, Okiku was horrified to find only nine. She counted them over and over, but no matter how many times she did this, the tenth plate was always missing.

It was a sorrowful maiden who presented the remaining plates to Aoyama, for she knew the penalty for losing a plate was to be beheaded.

Instead of anger, the lord’s face bore a crafty look. His expression soon turned to rage when she declined his offer of “clemency.” That fury blossomed, turning into a beating, and finally, when she still refused him, he dragged her into the courtyard and hung her over a well.

“This is your last chance,” he raged. “Who are you to refuse me?” She met his demands with silence.

Infuriated, he dunked her into the well, nearly drowning her. When even that failed to break Okiku’s determination, with one final slash, Lord Aoyama severed the rope, and she plummeted to her death.

The witch held up her hand for me to stop; her face had grown grim. With a shaky hand, she poured more tea and threw grain for my familiar. When she’d calmed herself, she spoke. “It is as I feared. She acquitted herself well to the end. A vine #cable could not have been stronger than her honor. No shame will ever be attached to her name. Alas, if I were younger, I would avenge this slight. If her betrothed fails in his duty, then I’ll haunt both him and Aoyama.”

I trembled. This was not why I had come. Instead of rescuing Okiku, I was only bringing tragedy. The ghosts threatened to multiply. I looked pleadingly at Airisu and mouthed, “Do I have to finish my tale?”

“Go on,” she cawed. “The rest is sorrowful enough, but there is no need for the good lady to stain her karma with it. The taint lies upon the house of Aoyama. Even dead at the bottom of a well, Okiku’s name endured unclouded—besides, we’re here to rescue her!”

With these last words, Airisu fluffed up her feathers and strutted across the floor. At a less solemn time, I would have laughed.

#TootFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Serial #SlowBurn #Yuri #Folklore #NMFic #TimeTravel

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Banchō Sarayashiki (Sumika POV): Post 40
#Wss366 Wilt #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever

“I will do my best, Holy One,” I said. “There are many versions of the tale, and I don’t know which one is correct.”

The witch sat across from me. The firelight reflected on her face, giving it a deceptive ruddy glow, even though I knew she was very sick. Airisu had stopped pecking at the grain and was looking between us intently. I was pleased that she hadn’t said anything rude so far.

“So, she is well remembered,” the woman said. “Tell whichever version you please.”

“I’m sure to mix the stories up,” I said.

The witch coughed and waved her hand dismissively, so I took heart and began.

In Himeji Castle, there was a beautiful lady-in-waiting named Okiku. It was her duty to care for a precious set of ten plates. This was a great honor, showing her breeding and how much her lord, Aoyama, valued her. But the lord’s feelings didn’t end there. He lusted after her and wished to make her his concubine.

Okiku #wilted under his attentions and refused his many advances, spurning both offered rewards and threatened punishments, for she was betrothed to a samurai named Takesune and remained faithful to him.

I stopped, first looking at the woman and then at Airisu, and asked, “How am I doing?”

Airisu made a funny, unbird-like gesture that resembled a shrug. I'd need to reward her later for keeping silent as I had directed.

For her part, the witch said, “Good enough. Okiku was fonder of me than of any man." A gentle smile stole over her face, and her eyes grew distant. "But she had been promised, and no pleading would turn her from the path laid before her. We were as husband and wife in all but name, yet she had her duties and I mine. How then would Lord Aoyama ensnare her?”

A cough interrupted the witch’s speech. Wiping her lips, she said, “Continue.”

#TootFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Serial #SlowBurn #Yuri #Folklore #NMFic #TimeTravel