Crow With No Name: Part 2

#Wss366 Redundant #MastoPrompt Lung #ScribesAndMakers Hogwash

I was definitely tripping. Wings? Feathers? I’d been dosed!

The world was full of psychedelic colors, some of which I couldn't identify. The sidewalk wasn't flat anymore. It was layered and cross-hatched with patterns and shadows that I had walked over a thousand times without ever truly seeing. The witch’s vial rolled lazily, a drop of liquid still in it—its taste bitter on my tongue.

Meaning flooded me. The shiny wrapper fluttering in the wind: sweetness clinging to foil. The neighbor—I already knew her: yelling, sudden hands, jerky steps that cut the air wrong. Her form shrieked like a warning siren.

She seemed to offer me a bag of treats: nasty-yellow; awful-gritty-browns; tasty-soggy-golden-flakes; yummy-meat-hollow bones.

It was #hogwash! Best to stay away. I didn’t decide that. I just knew.

None of it was #redundant: motion-sight, all saturated with meaning.

I was in the air before I knew it: Threat-Motion-Arm! I filled my lungs and let out a warning screech so that everyone would know. “Warning, Bad lady!”

I was free of the earth. “Caw, caw,” I cried. “I’m here!”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy

Crow With No Name: Part 3

#Wss366 Nick #MastoPrompt Articulate

At first, I flew toward the voices cawing, “I’m here! This way!” But I soon veered north. Something was cawing to me: a scent, a murmur, a hue. A fascination #articulated through every sense.

Houses and fields sped past below. Once or twice, places where I might find grubs or seeds beckoned me. But the call had become a song that drew me on.

Then I saw it: a swirl of unnamed colors rising from a glade in a copse of nesting trees. The colors brushed motionless autumn leaves, rising into the sky—a scent as alluring as yesterday's trash.

I swooped down, landing on a branch to take in the scene: a girl dancing. With each swing of her arms, stomp of her heel, and swish of her hips and kimono, a shimmering mist arose. She sang, accompanying her dance with a song like evening crickets or morning doves—ancient, yet new as dawn.

“Caw, caw. I’m here,” I called. I really wanted to know what she was doing.

She stopped dancing—face turning—eyes fixed uncomfortably on me. I wanted to tell her, “Don’t be like that. Look away,” but she spoke first. “Did Old #Nick send you?”

“Satan?” I replied. The words sounded harsh in my ears. “I came because you cawed.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Corvids #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy

Crow With No Name Part 4

#Wss366 Ground/ #GroundhogDay #MastoPrompt Harridan

Motionless girl—kimono stirring—no longer shimmering—eyes uncomfortably direct.

I scanned the area uneasily, and my gaze was instantly drawn to the sparkling pentagram she stood in. "I want! So pretty! Move, silly human," I cawed.

Moist cavities in the leaves surrounded the pentagram—a feast. "Move! Your ass, girl." I added, making myself clear.

Shadow moving on one side. A harmless head popped out of the #ground. We looked at each other, and then it yawned, looked at it’s shadow, and disappeared.

“Rude!” I shouted. “Shove it, you root eating #harridan.”

Motion. My attention snapped back to the girl—ready to fly.

“You talked,” she said.

“Yeah? So?” I replied. “Why wouldn’t I be able to talk?” Actually, that was a good question, I thought

“You’re a crow.”

A crow? A crow! I wasn’t tripping.

“I’m a crow. Holy moly, no more bills! Eat my shit, bank loans! Drop dead, stupid girlfriend! I’m going to steal some red hats and show those fascists just what I think of them.”

The air in my lungs abruptly ran out, and I shut-up.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy

Crow With No Name Part 5

#Wss366 detail

I stopped gloating when the girl said, “I was hoping for a cat for a familiar.”

If I could have sputtered, I would have. Instead, I said, “A cat? Why would you want a sneaky old cat?”

“They're fluffy, purr, and make the best familiars. If I were lucky, I could have gotten a bakeneko.”

“I’m fluffy,” I objected, fluffing my feathers. “And I’m smarter too. I’m college-educated!”

“But you won’t let me pet you.”

“Caw, caw, caw, #details, #details, #details.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy

Crow With No Name Part 6

#Wss366 entail #MastoPrompt Joust

“Why did I ever get such a rude familiar?” the girl complained.

“Rude? You #joust. Ack, Ack… Wait… a familiar? What does that #entail?” I asked cocking my head.

“You help me with magic, let me pet you, answer my questions, make coffee…”

“Hold it! None of the above. I don’t know magic. No one pets me. Okay, maybe I can answer questions. But I don’t have hands, so coffee is out.”

“You're useless!”

“Now who's being rude, Miss Bossy-pants!”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy

Crow With No Name Part 7

#Wss366 rue

"So, Crow-san, what can you do?" the woman asked.

“I can answer questions. I have three degrees: A BA in mystic psychology, a master's in European medieval studies, and a Ph.D. in Asian mythology. Linguistically, I speak English, Japanese, and the crow dialect of corvid. I can even spout slop like AI. Ack, ack, ack.” I was so funny.

“Just what I need, a brainiac crow. What else?”

“Those should be useful to a witch. You’re a witch? Right? I’ve never heard of a witch in a kimono, but you have a pentagram—so shiny!”

“Yes, I am a witch. What other useful things can you do?”

“Scout, find you shinies… Wait, I haven’t agreed to this. I have conditions.”

“I'm going to #rue the day I summoned you. So what are your conditions?”

“You can't use me as cannon fodder or as an NPC. I get fed well. Chicken nugs are the best. Petting is only allowed with my permission. NO cats! Humm… Oh, I get to keep all the shinies I find.”

“That seems reasonable. And I have conditions too: you answer my questions truthfully, don't fly off without telling me or when I need you; stay out of my bedroom and bathroom unless I call you; and no swearing. You know what kind of people swear.”

“You know I’m not people? I’m a corvid. But okay, no swearing unless you do something I don’t like.”

“No swearing ever!”

“Ackkkk, okay, but no cage. A nice perch and free flying.”

“Agreed. Our pact is made,” she said, and began reciting:

Nomine sagae, matronae, et filiae, pactum nostrum factum est.
Unus pro omnibus et omnes pro uno.

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Crow With No Name Part 8

#Wss366 Aline/Align #MastoPrompt Gloat

As the chanting ceased, the pentagram flared, and the strange, almost violet light surged. Rising first to her hands and then sweeping out toward me, the light coated my body and hers.

I screeched as an almost electrical energy pulsed along every nerve.

“Holy… The swear word I wanted to use refused to come out of my mouth, so finished with “Moly!”

Then the light and energy subsided leaving behind a residue of that unheard melody that had drawn me here, emanating from the woman. Its calm notes assured me she was safe, and I flew to her shoulder.

“I see our auras #align,” she said. “I can’t believe this actually worked!”

“You're a knob witch, aren’t you?” I said. “Ack, ack, ack.” I shouldn’t #gloat, but I’m funny.

She shook her shoulder until I stopped laughing and then said, “Well, this is the first magicy magic I have done. I mostly do divinations, charms, and potions, but I’m good at those.”

Then, maturely, she continued, “We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. Shall we start again?”

Very cliché, I thought, but decided I didn’t want to get shaken again.

“I’m Sumika and am a novice witch. What is your name?”

I thought and thought and finally answered, “I can’t remember.”

[End Chapter 1]

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Butterfly Omen (Sumika POV): Part 9
#Wss366 Keen #TimeTravelAuthors Butterfly Effect

I dreamed that I was in the garden performing dogeza, although I didn't know why. Above me, a man doused me with water, while the #keening wind froze my sodden clothes to my body. I wanted to cry out, but I knew he would beat me if I did.

Then, I saw a water iris reflected in the spreading pool around me. The purple of its flower called to me in my mother’s voice. A sound almost forgotten. But now I could hear her singing the bamboo song. The words spoke of the coming dawn, when the sun would drive away the rain.

Hope took the form of a butterfly. The hurricane of its wings would sweep me away from this cursed life.

[End Chapter 2]

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Grimoire Obscuriea I: Part 10
#Wss366 Backroom

My name is Sumika, and I’m a witch. However, I’m nothing like a yamauba, a mountain witch. I’m more like Sabrina: an ordinary store clerk who met a couple of foreign women interested in crystals, pentagrams, and charms.

They say you should show, not tell. So I would like to show you.

“Crystals, Charms, and Divination.” I read the title out loud as I rang up the price. Our brightly lit bookstore was close enough to the “American University” that we stocked many foreign titles: English, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and of course, Japanese, along with books that would never sell downtown. This was one of them: an eclectic collection of information on Western New Age magic.

I recognized the woman at the counter. She often haunted the corner where we kept metaphysical books. She was an exotic European lady with blue eyes, pale skin, and long ginger hair that stuck in my memory.

The friend who was with her was also foreign, with short brown hair and a plain face. I vaguely remembered her as well.

“Would you have a copy of this?” the second woman asked, showing me a slip of paper with the title “Love Charms and Potions” written on it.

The title seemed very specific, but we had some odd things, so I said, “I’ll look in the #backroom.”

As I suspected, we didn’t have that book, but I found a leather notebook, so old that the cover had cracked. The faded gold title read “Grimoire Obscuriea.” At first, I thought it might be a valuable antique the owner had mislaid, but as I flipped through the stained pages, I found that most of them were blank. That was except for the first page, which was filled with crudely written Latin. The spidery letters were blurred with frequent blots.

When the light in the room flickered, the letters in the first few lines seemed to jumble, then resolve into a poorly constructed tanka. I wasn’t sure how I could have missed it at first.

          Lo, seeker
          And the sought
          Night breeze
          Moth on the fly
          Gem unrecognized

I had no idea what it meant, but that was the case with most poetry, especially old stuff with archaic courtly symbolism.

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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Grimoire Obscuriea (Sumika POV): Part 11
#Wss366 Bridge

I’m not sure why I kept the old handbook. Perhaps I thought I could use the blank pages. It’s all fuzzy, but anyway, I exited the backroom carrying it.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have that title,” I said, returning to my place by the cash register. “If you know the publisher, maybe I could order it for you?”

The woman eyed the grimoire as I placed it under the counter. She cocked her head, looking interested. So I lied. “Sorry, that’s not for sale. It's something the owner misplaced.”

My reaction puzzled me. I'm usually honest, yet I felt oddly possessive of the book.

The woman continued staring at me, then spoke. “You have a very strong aura: white tinted with violet. Have you ever thought of using magic?”

It was my turn to stare. After the six years I’d spent in the States, I should have been accustomed to the casual Western style of communication, but her comment still caught me off guard. I’ve had other people tell me I had spiritual powers, but I’d never seen ghosts, had premonitions, or anything.

"Sorry, no," I said, beginning to wrap her book. Hopefully, they could read the room and would depart soon.

She resumed, “My bad. I should introduce us. I’m Ariel, and this is my friend Jeany.”

“Let’s go,” Jeany said. “Can’t you see she’s not interested?”

“Oh yes, she is. Look,” Ariel said, pointing to the book I’d been reading before they arrived. Then she read the title out loud: “#Bridge to the Stars: Four Pillars of Destiny.”

“I was curious,” I said. That really was all there was to it. I read a lot of random stuff.

“Great! Why don’t you join us for drinks later?” Ariel pressed. “Here, take this,” she said, passing me a flyer for a local izakaya. “We’ll be there around eight.”

It sounded interesting, and it would give me a chance to make some friends. Besides, Ariel was cute. So why not?

That was my first step in becoming a witch.

[End Chapter 3]

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

What’s-Its-Crow (Crow POV) Part 12 – 1 of 2
#Wss366 Couch

Sumika’s question should have been easy: “What was my name?” Crow? No, that couldn’t be it. That would mean I had the same name as every other crow. Nope. Nada. No way. I was special.

I looked off into the trees bordering the clearing, and then at the pentagram—which was now just dull-white chalk lines—as if they held the answer. But they didn’t. Nor did the whispering wind, the distant calling of fellow crows, or the patterns of autumn leaves on the ground.

I cocked my head and finally said, “I can’t remember.”

“What do you mean you can’t remember?” Sumika said. “Why?”

“It’s complicated.” Man, this was embarrassing. How could I not know my name!?

“Part of our contract is that you have to answer my questions truthfully.”

“Lady read the room,” I thought. “I don’t want to get into this.”

Rather than confronting her for being nosy, I prevaricated, saying, “I’m not lying; it’s complicated.”

“Do you really want to play that game? There's a lot of room for interpretation of ‘I get fed well.’”

I thought about that, scratched my head, and gave up. How was I going to #couch this, so that I wouldn't look like the village idiot? I mean, I wasn't one of those pigeons!

“I was human until a few hours ago,” I said. “The human and crow thoughts are all mixed up together. Somehow, my name got lost in the shuffle. See, it’s complicated!”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

What’s-Its-Crow (Crow POV) Part 12 – 2 of 2
#Wss366 Couch

[Continued from previous post]

“Did I do this to you? I’m so sorry!”

“Ack.” Where did that come from? Whatever, I might as well be a good bird and be truthful. “Abiru-san did this to me. She must have thought it a fine joke. She’s a witch too. Do you know her?”

“No, but we could find her and have her turn you back.”

I stretched out a wing, preening. “Actually, I think I enjoy being a crow. Humans are weird with their consumption taxes; corrupt, lying politicians; and traffic jams. I've got it good!”

“Okay, I didn’t think being a crow would be that great. As for calling it a joke, that seems a little overboard. Still, if you like it, that’s fine by me. But you need a name. How about Poe?”

“Crickety, crack! Every crow and a ladle is called Poe.”

“It’s ‘cat,' not ‘crow.’”

“Wash your mouth out! If I can't swear, neither can you! Ack, ack, ack.”

Suddenly, the world jumped all over the place. “Panic! Fly! Danger! Danger! Danger!”

Oh, she was shaking her shoulder in response to my comment. I guessed she didn’t find me as funny as I did. Anyway, I’d safely landed several meters away, where she couldn’t reach me.

“So, what would you suggest?” she asked.

"Yatagarasu," I snapped. It was a fitting name, so I strutted a few steps to show how well it suited me.

She shook her head and said, “There are so many things wrong with that. You aren’t a giant, nor do you have three feet. But mainly, naming yourselves after Kamo Taketsunumi might offend the gods. How about Airisu? It came to me in a dream. I think it’s a good omen.”

“I’m a Japanese crow, not an Irish one.”

“Yeah, it sounds like ‘Irish,’ but it also means a purple flower that grows wild. Like water-iris: elegant, melancholy, refined, poetic.”

“Airisu. That works for me.”

[End Chapter 4]

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Nameless Shrine (Airisu POV): Part 13
#Wss366 Back

"Airisu: simple, elegant, refined. I could live with that," I thought, mulling over the name Sumika had given me.

“Now that’s settled, I want chicken nugs,” I cawed.

“I suppose it's time to get #back,” Sumika said. “I parked at the foot of the mountain.”

“Snack. Snacks,” I cawed. I was hungry after the long flight here.

She dug around in a bag she had fetched from the underbrush and held out some rice crackers, which I ate.

AFTER I was done, I told her, “Salt and sugar aren’t good for crows.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Contrariwise.” (I liked that word.)

“Good, because chicken nuggets have a ton of salt and fat.”

To butter her up, I said, “Far be it from me to complain about my mistress’s generosity.”

“You’re overdoing it a little there, Crow.”

“My name is Airisu.”

“Okay, Airisu, let go.”

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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Nameless Shrine (Airisu POV): Part 14
#Wss366 Rut

As Sumika turned toward a gap in the trees, I flew ahead to sit in a tree there. It was then that I realized things weren’t right. The glen had been full of vibrant colors and alluring music when I arrived, but it was now anything but that. The shadows were too long, flickering with a strange, sinister indigo light instead of the warm, inviting shades of my mistress’s song. My feathers crackled with static.

Beyond the trees lay a #rutted trail where the shadows grew darker and more threatening. It was like the feeling of when an owl hoots at night—an unseen hostile energy waiting to swoop in while you’re blind.

“Not safe,” I cawed.

“What isn’t?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but there's something fingering you.” It was true as she came closer, the vibrations from the shadows leeched out, touching her kimono so that it positively crackled with rivulets of sapphire fire.

“I don’t sense anything.”

“I can’t help that, you silly pigeon. This isn’t a good… Ack!” The energy sparked, cutting off my warning.

“Silence, ill-begotten cackler!” the shadows whispered.

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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Nameless Shrine (Airisu POV): Post 15
#Wss366 Glance #MastoPrompt Lake

“Danger! Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!” I screeched, flying back to Sumika and hiding in her long hair.

“What is it?” she asked, but when I opened my beak to answer, the riverlets crawling over her kimono crackled and popped, drowning out my answer.

“It’s just an old shrine,” she explained. “We used to come here for tests of courage when I was little. No one even knows what kami was enshrined there.”

We were now on the overgrown path. Weeds grew in the track, and a river of bugs flowed through a gully. Dead things that consumed the light in their path, leaving darkness in their wake, and finally gathering in #lakes at low places.

I peeked out from behind Sumika’s head and saw a small stand of ancient ginkgo trees ahead. One #glance was all it took, and I ducked behind her again. There was a shadow inside the grove crowned with golden ginkgo leaves: sinister, deep indigo fire pulsing with red sparks.

I tried to warn Sumika, but the energy crawled up her like egg-hunting snakes and sparked along my wing feathers. All that emerged from my beak was a hoarse croak.

Over the static, a song whispered in the air of ancient power, lamenting the past. It crept into my ears like maggots whispering:

          Royal gold
          Hoarfrost’d now
          Silent grow
          Earth sheltering
          Pulse quickening

Oblivious, Mistress brushed at me. “Hey, get out of my hair.”

I scrambled to stay, wishing I were back at my trailer, where my only worry was my dismal life.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Serial

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Nameless Shrine (Airisu POV) Post 16
#Wss366 Grant #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever (Early Edo Era)

“Welcome.” The voice sputtered, full of white noise.

“Who’s that?” Sumika said, stopping dead in her tracks.

“Him, down there in the grove,” I cawed.

While we spoke, a fog rolled up the trail. By the time I had directed her to look at the grove, it was already swallowed by the mist.

“What do you want?” Sumika asked.

I would have preferred if she had run, but that didn’t seem to be her plan.

“To talk. To bargain. The night breeze has brought you, Moth. I am the gem unrecognized. Will you unearth me?”

It wasn’t until later that Sumika showed me the verse he was referring to.

          Lo, seeker
          And the sought
          Night breeze
          Moth on the fly
          Gem unrecognized

What was being said would have made more sense if I had heard the poem. Sumika was the seeker, and it was the sought. She was a moth that had found something valuable, or more likely caught by the “flame unrecognized.”

“Come,” it continued. “Enter my shrine. I can #grant you your heart’s desire.”

I wanted to tell her to run, but my caw stuck in my throat.

Sumika began walking forward again.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Serial

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Nameless Shrine (Airisu POV) Post 17
#Wss366 Idol referenced #MastoPrompt Venerable #TimeTravelAuthors #Whatever Early Edo Period

Sumika had barely taken three steps through the thick fog engulfing us when a gong rang, its tones muted by the vapors. Startled by the sound, I watched the fog part to reveal a new scene.

A serviceable path lay before us, with the weeds trimmed back. It sloped down the hill, leading to a woodland shrine surrounded by dazzling ginkgo trees, vibrant in their fall glory. Next to each tree stood a tall, #venerable monk holding a gong. Their skin was as bright and golden as the leaves of the trees next to them.

Around the shrine, the energy was calmer, no longer indigo but violet, shot with indigo bursts. The sense of malevolence had departed, yet the shrine didn’t feel friendly. Instead, it was watchful, wary.

The shrine itself was sparse. A clear spring bubbled from the earth. Suspended from the ginkgos were a bell and wooden prayer plaques. A small offertory box sat before a weathered stone Buddha. A few offerings lay scattered at its feet: wilted flowers, rice on broad leaves, and burnt incense.

One of the golden-skinned monks lifted the lid of the shrine chest. Inside rested an Edo-period kabuto.

Violet light washed across its lacquered plates and bled outward into the grove.

My years of study were not wasted. The helmet was no mere relic. It was a mitamashiro—a spirit-vessel—binding a dead samurai to this place.

This was not a shrine of gratitude. It was a shrine of appeasement.

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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Dōken-sha (Airisu POV) Post 18
#Wss366 threshold / Equinox #TimeTravelAuthors #Whatever #EdoEra

It was too late to turn back. Behind us, the trail no longer looked the same. We had crossed a #threshold into the Shadow Land, Kakuriyo.

The monks beckoned us forward. “Bake ichō no sei,” I cooed to Sumika. “Ginkgo kodama, spirits of the ginkgo trees.”

Sumika prepared to visit the shrine by washing her mouth and hands in the mountain spring. I hopped down. The darting of little fish fascinated me for a moment. Then I washed. The drops of water were cool on my back, but not unpleasant.

Cleansed, Sumika clapped and rang the bell, accompanied by the monk’s gongs.

Light gathered over the kabuto, folding inward until it took the shape of a young man, straight-backed, hawk-faced, as composed as Lord Confucius. His austere dark robes were bound with a simple corded sash. Indigo light seeped along the cord binding the ledger tucked under his arm. In his other hand, he held a closed black lacquer fan. Energy gathered there as well. A small handscroll rested at his waist, secured as neatly as a blade.

My first instinct was to fly to a safer distance. His stillness wasn’t of calm, but of judgment. He hadn’t been a man who scattered peanuts for idle birds. This had been a person who counted to the last grain of rice.

“Minor samurai, administrator, Confucian scholar,” I cooed to Sumika. She would owe so me many peanuts!

“Ack!” Sumika made a deep ninety-degree bow, taking me completely by surprise.

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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Dōken-sha (Airisu POV) Post 19
#Wss366 gauntlet #MastoPrompt Disposable #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever #Edo

He bowed with formal grace, though not as deeply as Sumika. “Welcome, I’m Arakawa Dōken.” He stopped and studied my mistress, who remained silent, bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

“I-I-I…” She finally responded, but couldn’t get anything further out.

“And you were one who wore bells at your waist and spoke the names of spirits without bowing,” the spirit said.

He paused again, waiting. But when there was only silence, he resumed. “Now you are soft, tainted with foreign magic. Still, you are the tool that is handy—you may rise samayō miko. Let me have your name.” Despite the disrespect embodied in his words, his tone was hypnotic.

Sumika straightened, and I struggled again not to topple over. Otherwise, I would have warned her not to give her name. Names have power.

“Yeung Su-sumika.”

That was an odd combination, but it explained why she used her given name. It can be quite the #gauntlet surviving in a Japanese school with a Chinese surname.

“Yeung-san, I see you bear my gift,” Arakawa-sama said.

“Gift?” Sumika said, swaying. Her voice fluttered.

“Not good,” I thought. “He is a hawk, and she is a dove.”

“The book. The book you gave me in times gone by, I have returned it to you.”

“What book?” I asked myself. I would have to ask about that later.

Arakawa continued. His voice was soothing. Not a hawk but a serpent weaving its hypnotic spell.

          Lo, seeker
          Mountain sought
          Before you the path

He paused, waiting for an answer. When none came, he recited his own response to the #renga.

          Owl call
          Stem the tides
          Stones smooth

The word "owl" hit me like an arrow, breaking the spell Arakawa-sama had woven, leaving me itching as if I had fleas.

Having escaped the weave of his voice, I thought about what he was saying. It’s an offer. The upper verse says my mistress had found what she sought, and the lower verse offers to change what has passed. How fitting that Arakawa-sama calls himself “owl,” a hunter in the night, and robber of nests in the dark. The tides he wishes to stem are those that have caught him up; those of a forgotten #disposable kami, not Sumika’s.

“Come, bind yourself to me.” He had now switched to prose. “Remember, Ban Zhao says, ‘Let a woman modestly yield to others.’ Yet, I will deliver all you dream of.”

“Pig,” I almost blurted out.

Then he returned to verse.

          Twaining weed
          Moon and Hawk fly
          Wild herb open

He held out his hand, and Sumika reached for it.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Serial