Don’t let Toshi out of your sight and don’t let the warriors drop their guard, Pearl-Ear’s knowing look said.
Sharp-Ear’s scornful expression clearly and succinctly replied, I need you to tell me that.
Lady Pearl-Ear left Toshi surrounded by a half-dozen swords and at least as many arrows as she hurried to gather the elders.
Toshi somehow expected more from the wise council of kitsune shamans. Three wizened and scrawny old foxes just didn’t justify the reverential treatment they received. Toshi knew next to nothing about the kitsune and he hated the woods, but even he knew that proper fox-elders had more than one tail. Maybe all the really important elders were engaged elsewhere.
The soldiers kept him under close watch but they left his hands free. The littlest kitsune male, Sharp-Ear, had made sure to relieve Toshi of his jitte.
Since offending Night’s Reach, Toshi found he could no longer become immaterial or travel by shadows. The kanji that bestowed these powers were still visible on his arms but they no longer functioned. The kitsune still monitored him as if he could come and go at will, and he was determined to keep them misinformed for as long as possible. If they were guarding him as if he were a phantom, they might leave some other avenue of escape open to a more normal prisoner.
So Toshi sat on the stump-platform at the edge of Michiko-hime’s riding lane, the Taken One nestled safely against a tree nearby. They had at least taken his advice and not tried to move it. The three elders, Pearl-Ear, and Michiko had all climbed atop the fallen log that bordered the training lane to listen. Pearl-Ear made introductions, Toshi bowed to the venerable foxes, and he told them (with several minor omissions) about his experiences over the past few days.
When he was done they simply stood and gave each other meaningful stares. Michiko looked grim and determined as she watched her teacher. Pearl-Ear in turn waited for the elders’ reaction, and so Toshi stood watching his hosts watching each other.
“I don’t think you understand the urgency here,” Toshi said to Sharp-Ear. The little fox was always nearby. He seemed to have taken a personal interest in minding the prisoner. “A day, two at the most, and we’re all in the same trouble I left in the east.”
Sharp-Ear continued to stare at Toshi intently, but he answered quietly. “I daresay you’re right. But they didn’t get to be elders by being fools. Give them a chance to consider the options.”
“What options?” Toshi hissed. “It keeps saying, ‘release me.’ Where’s the mystery? It wants out, I say let it out.”
“It’s not that simple. There’s your credibility to consider.”
“It is that simple. That thing’s alive; everyone can see it. If you were frozen solid, you’d want someone to crack you loose, right?”
“Sadly, I speak from bitter experience. Yes. I did want that when I was frozen and I would want it again.”
“Sure you would. What else could they possibly be considering?” Toshi peered up at the silent elders. “Are they considering? It looks like they’ve forgotten why they’re here.”
“Be quiet,” Sharp-Ear snapped. “Or show more respect. You came to us for help, remember?”
“That’s because I thought you would know what to do. You don’t know any better than I do.”
“So what? Even if that’s true, what do you propose? Shall we give it back to you and send you on your way?”
“That’s a start. If you foxes want to sit and contemplate its true nature, be my guest. Just don’t make me wait around to watch.” He looked up into the sky.
“We have decided.” The elder in the center of the trio spoke. Toshi remembered her name as Silk-Eyes.
“This,” she pointed at the Taken One, “is a living thing. Everything else is mere speculation.”
Toshi called out, “That living thing ‘speculated’ three orochi into piles of salt.”
Silk-Eyes smiled patiently. “You left snakes and came back to salt. That does not mean the entity is responsible.”
“Of course it does. I also think that because it keeps asking to be released that means it wants to be released.” He turned angrily to Sharp-Ear. “I thought you said they weren’t fools.”
“Calm down, my friend.” Silk-Eyes offered her hands to the other elders, and they formed a chain. “We will attempt to communicate with the entity. Her voice is already known to us. We only need to make ours heard.”
“‘Her’?” Toshi said. “If you say so. Look, what you’re proposing is not a bad idea, but it’s not the right idea. In the east the Taken One called out for ‘her’ father. She sent up a signal, and O-Kagachi answered. He appeared and moved much faster than he has before. And I know because I’ve seen him in action twice. How many times have you seen the great spirit beast manifest?”
Sober silence was the only reply.
Toshi nodded. His voice was calm and rational. “She wants to get out. Help me figure out a way to let her out before she calls O-Kagachi here. Do you understand? He’s coming here anyway, but if the entity gets anxious, she will bring him here in a heartbeat. If we give her freedom, she can decide when, where, and if he finds her. She can go to him if she wants.”
“With respect, Toshi Umezawa, we would rather understand the consequences of our deeds before we perform them. Lately a great deal of misery has arisen from ill-considered action.”
“You’re talking about the daimyo,” Toshi said loudly. He had finally caught Michiko glancing away from Pearl-Ear and he held her eyes as he spoke. “Konda wronged this being and the entire spirit world when he stole her. When he trapped her like this. That blasphemy is the main reason the spirits became hostile and the direct cause of the Kami War. If we don’t redeem that terrible act … if we don’t right that wrong, we are no better than he who committed it.”
Michiko nodded almost imperceptibly before turning back to her sensei.
Sharp-Ear suddenly spoke up beside Toshi, startling him. “The ochimusha has a point,” the fox said. The crowd that had gathered muttered in surprise, and Sharp-Ear added, “About the danger, I mean. O-Kagachi followed the entity to Eiganjo and broke the fortress walls. He followed it to Minamo, then to Jukai. We have every reason to expect him to follow it here.”
Silk-Eyes dropped the other elders’ hands and folded hers into her sleeves. “Are you suggesting we simply bestow some degree of animation upon her and leave her to her fate?”
“No, elder.” Sharp-Ear shifted uncomfortably. “But I do think we should explore both courses. While you and the other elders reach out to the entity, others can devise a way to free her from that stone shell.”
“A capital idea. Will you agree to lead the inquiry into releasing the entity?”
“I shall, elder.”
“Splendid. And we shall proceed as I’ve outlined. We hope that our efforts will make yours less complicated. There is much the entity could tell us, if we knew how to ask.” Silk-Eyes turned to Pearl-Ear and muttered something Toshi couldn’t hear. Then the three old foxes bounded easily to the ground and took up kneeling positions around the Taken One, their hands clasped together.
“This audience is complete,” Pearl-Ear said loudly. “The elders wish to be alone with the entity, so everyone apart from the guards should withdraw.”
Toshi turned to Sharp-Ear. “Am I free to go?”
The little kitsune made a great show of thinking it over. “I suppose so,” he said. He carefully took the arrow off his bowstring and tucked it into his quiver. “I also suppose someone should thank you for bringing the entity to the elders. They’re probably the only people in the world who wouldn’t try to profit from it, you and I included.” He bobbed a quick bow to Toshi. “Thank you, ochimusha.”