Tamiko was in a bad mood ever since Akhram captured her mother in order to force her to find one of the dark blades made by the God of War Kouhei. It was the very reason that villainous scum had murdered her father, in order to steal the scroll with the information on the blade and where to find it and the abilities and powers it granted the wielder. Her father had been appointed as the keeper of such knowledge and as such he did not believe it would be safer anywhere else but in his persona, after all, spirit raccoons were master tricksters and could shapeshift into anything really. Of course they had not expected to come across a man who had studied her species long enough to know that wards were the way to go in order to weaken forest spirits. She nearly facepalmed for the hundredth time. She had sworn on her father’s memory she would avenge him someday and ensure to keep safe that which he had protected with his life. Now it looked like she would be unable to fulfil either of her oaths. Akhram had kidnapped her mother, there was no way she would not do as he said in order to keep the only family she had left alive. She would not give him the pleasure of killing both of them. But one day, “One day I’ll have your head…” She sneered as she walked along the road. It was a dark night and it was quite cold. She had to leave her home forest to arrive at the village on the outskirts of Hokkan where the fabled blade was to be found according with the instructions she received. And she wondered why this man did not go get it himself!

She pulled her cloak to cover herself better as she shivered some. She had to stop at her house in order to change into her winter clothes as a messenger she occasionally trailed to Hokkan as the bordering villages constantly communicated with the ones in Sailo or even sent small packages. She did not complain, it meant she could get some coin. What annoyed her was that she was about t do two things that went abasing her principles and she had to obey because a creep decided to sneak into her house and capture her poor mother. She still could not believe it, that no one in the village had noticed. Something felt suspicious, had he kidnaped another raccoon in other to force cooperation as he had done with her? Well, as soon as this business was done she would make enquiries and figure this whole thing out. He was a dangerous man so the further he was kept from her and her clan the better, and yet she could not stop that shier down her spine. She had a bad feeling that, now that he knew of their existence and powers and abilities, well, he would need stop pestering them and that infuriated her. If only she had the power and influence required to destroy that man’s career and throw him in prison, she had a feeling that the suffering of many persons would disappear. But that was why she was angry, because she knew he would be a difficult man to take down. He had too much power and prestige she could see it in the way his men followed his eery order to the letter and did not question him. First he earned their four and then he did as he pleased.

She arrived at the village and now it was the time to be careful and put her skills to the test. She climbed atop a tree and examined as many persons as she could, one of them caught her attention, it was a lady that seemed to be coming from the tori gate where the temple was. Surely the sword was kept in that shrine. She waited for the lady to be close enough to her and she knocked her out. She could be sleeping long enough for someone to find her and Tamiko be far gone with the blade. She sighed and then turned into the lady thanks to her shapeshifting skills. She tested it by greeting a man that passed her by and he smiled recognising her and smiled at her. So far so good… She made her way to the tori gate and up the several steps as if she had been in this village her whole life. Unfortunately she enjoyed this part of the task. It was true that she was a trickster and whenever she could use her skills she could have a lot of fun but this time it was a bittersweet feeling. It could not be helped, she hated not being in control. She then arrived at the temple and paid her respects, in case anyone was watching her. She then entered the shrine as if she had forgotten to take something and very carefully looked around. She was about to die up when she discovered an enclosed room. She entered the room and noticed a blade in its sheathe protected by several wards. She knew that any magic would trigger the traps and so instead she decided to make sure of whatever she could find in order to grab the blade.

There was a curtain nearby, she removed it and ensuring no one was nearby she gently made a rope with it, she attempted to hook the rope around the blade and after the third try she succeeded. She then gently began to pull it toward herself and away form the wards. She was very careful and finally she grabbed the blade. She put the curtain back in its place and couldn’t stop herself from dropping a cute racoon figurine where the blade used to be. She snickered and then made sure not to draw any attention and left the shrine, but this time, instead of walking back, she turned into a phoenix big enough to carry the blade in her talons. After she looked around and made sure no one was near, she took to the skies enjoying the feeling of he wind abasing her cheeks. She felt so happy and excited just form that little adventure of hers she nearly forgot who she was stealing for and she mentally cringed. She tried to focus on enjoying the flight back to Sailo and the beauty of being such a lovely feathered bird. She was not sure she would be able to get the bird right as she had only seen illustrations in paintings, tiles and books but she could feel smug now for she had done a wonderful job. She recognised the meeting point and landed graciously near the cave, the last thing she wanted was for that man to see for himself any of her abilities, she did not eat him knocking at her door whenever he wanted something stolen. She rolled her eyes and then transformed back to her human form, with ears and tail still visible.

She then sighed and turned a mud doll into the blade and with illusion magic she made it look just like the blade she had hidden. She did not trust the man so she could make sure to keep the blade hidden until she knew for sure that he did mean business. She then walked inside the car and then said, “A deal is a deal, where is my mother?” She looked truly annoyed and Akhram smiled, his long dark hair shaking with the wind, he was fully armed and it made her feel uneasy. But then he approached her and said, “She is right behind you.” She turned for a moment and saw her mother, she was tied up and looked frightened but she ha don’t been harmed in any way as promised. She then said, “Release her and I’ll do as promised.”

Akhram smirked and then took a few steps toward her, she gasped and walked backward until her back his the wall of the cave. He placed a hand on the wall right next to her and leaning toward her he said darkly, “Do you take me for a fool? I will not agree to anything until you bring the real blade along. My men saw you hide it. I’ll admit you are smart, but I’m not a patient man.” He ran a hand through her hair and she kicked him in the sternum causing him to take several steps back looking surprised, “You are a feisty one.” He laughed as she threw the mud doll at him, he avoided it and then watched her return with the real blade, it infuriated her she could not fool him or she would have returned the blade. He took the blade from her and examined it, yes, this was one of the legendary blades made by the God fo War himself, he grinned and then drew the blade, “Release her mother. There is a cart waiting for you with food in house that you can call it a truce… It’s nothing personal…” His eyes darkened as he looked into her eyes and she wished she could have used that sword to cut his throat, instead she smiled sweetly and said, “You killed my father, a cart with food will not cut it.” By that point her mother had already left for the cart. And soon Tamiko joined her, she had stolen a gold coin pouch from his belt and smirked as they took off.

Akhram’s eye twitched when he found out, but it did not matter, he knew where her village was and could easily capture her if he ever needed anything more form her. He smirked, her attempts at returning the stolen blade had only served to impress him and that was a very dangerous thing to do. That meant that she had made him turn his attention toward her, and all her traits, personality and powers were… intriguing. A plan was slowly forming in his mind and he grinned. He was in his thirties, the ideal age to look for a wife…

After Tamiko ensured her mother was safe and unharmed and not too affected by what had transpired she mad enquires in the village and it turned out she was kidnapped when returning from the city. She was relieve dot know it had not been because anyone in the clan had betrayed her family. That would have been too much for her to bear. One thing that did make her uneasy was that last look Akhram had given her. She wanted to think this business was over and she would never see him again, but she had a hunch that she would have to be very careful from now on. She was not sure what it was but, it was making her uneasy.

A few days later, in an attempt to get rid of her uneasiness she decided to go to that lovely natural spring she would treat herself with whenever she returned home after a long trip to deliver a message or get up to date with regional news. She sighed and once she arrived she placed her few belongings by a rock. She then removed her boots, wrist guards and chest plate before she removed all her remaining clothing and folded it neatly on a nearby rock. She then tied up her hair in order for it not to get wet as she had recently washed it. She took a deep breath and then walked into the water. It was warm and bubbly and she smiled closing her eyes for a moment before moving toward the small waterfall allowing it to fall down her shoulders in cascades of gentle force. She closed her eyes relaxing and enjoying the moment deciding to lower her guard if for only a moment and forgetting anything that was troubling her of to that very moment.

Daisuke was not having a good week. Akiza had been spending her free time harassing him, and he felt he would scream if he called him “Dai-chan” one more time. Then he was on patrol at the shrine a few nights later, and Akiza came to bother him at work. He had only just gotten her to leave when he saw her coming back just a few moments later. Not wanting to deal with her again, he had conveniently decided to take his lunch break just to avoid her.

The problem was that it apparently had only looked like Akiza. He’d come back from lunch and found the door to the display room of the Dark Blade standing partially open. Going to investigate, he was dismayed to discover that the sword was gone, and a small raccoon figure was in its place. He took the figure and began to search the Shrine and then the town at large, all to no avail.

With a stomach full of dread, he’d had to go wake up his grandmother and tell her what happened. She was understandably furious, and he was not at all surprised by the tirade of insults that followed.

He was surprised when she ordered him to go get it back. She had insisted that it was his fault it was lost, so he had to go get it back. Furthermore, she cursed him and the tanuki so that once he found her, he could not let her out of his sight until the sword was returned.

That led him to his current situation. He’d asked around a bit in nearby villages, and some were aware of a tanuki messenger that traveled between here and Sailo. Although he wasn’t sure it was the same tanuki, he thought maybe this messenger could help him find the sword.

So now he was walking down a road in Sailo, holding the little raccoon figure and grumbling to himself. Looking at the figurine, he frowned. “I wish you could just show me to the stupid raccoon girl…”

Then something really strange happened. He saw a little flash from his necklace, but before he could figure out if it was the sun reflecting off the crystal, the raccoon figurine began to feel warm and he felt his arm being pulled in a specific direction. Confused, he followed the pull of the figurine, and he started to enter a secluded path that led to a hot spring. Not sure what was going on, he tried to let go of the figuringe, but he could not. As he moved, the tugging got stronger. Before he could really figure out what was going on, he felt himself being pulled off the short cliff and into the water, barely having the time to drop his bag and sword as he flailed toward the water. He bounced off of a large rock, and heard a faint cracking sound, but he didn't have time to think about that as he was pulled to a naked girl soaking in the water. Having shouted as he fell, he continued to do so as he was dragged at the girl. “What the hell?!” He continued to try and fight the sensation, but ended up running right into her. Blushing darky, he tried to push away but the figurine seemed drawn to this woman.

It was then that he noticed cute little raccoon ears and a tail, and he groaned in annoyance. “Don’t tell me you’re the stupid raccoon that stole our sword!”

Tamiko’s mum had recovered from the experience faster than expected, in fact she told Tamiko that she had not felt threatened at all, it was strange, she even said that her kidnaper had the most adorable ears and was not a bad person. It did not make any sense to her, since that meant no one in their village had taken her mother hostage but it also implied another forest spirit did and that was so strange. Usually forest spirits were either on friendly terms with others or kept to themselves, so how could this be? Unless Akhram had found a way to force more forest spirits to do his bidding, which she found repulsing and if he dared to show his face again she would do everything at hand to help all other forest spirits escape from his grasp. She disliked men like him, so full of themselves. He never got his hands dirty and blackmailed others to do what he pleased, even if that went abasing their beliefs and nature he did not care as long as he got what he wanted. Such arrogance, on top of that he thought he was irresistible. She had news for him though, back at the cave all she felt toward him was disgust and she wished she had spitted on his fact after kicking him away from her, but that would have dragged too much attention toward her. She submerged her body up to her neck into the warm water for a moment before she slightly resurfaced taking one deep breath after another in her attempt to calm down, she was feeling much more relaxed now. She would not let a man like Akhram ruin her time alone. She would study his every move, his strengths and weaknesses and if he did come back to try and force her to do anything else, she would be ready.

Now, as a tanuki, Tamiko was a rather carefree creature. She did not worry about problems or obsessed over them. She always found ways to relax and be her old cheerful self again. But something inside her told her that this business with Akhram was not over and it scared her. Maybe she should try and gather some information during one of her trips as messenger, maybe speak with someone… She did not want to be dragged into the darkness because she had been unlucky enough to have her mother kidnapped so that she would have to go somewhere cold in Hokkan and steal a powerful and deadly sword. She had no interest in the blade, but she also knew that her father had died trying to protect the secret location of the blade and that bothered her a lot. Not only had Akhram killed her father for the information, but he had also treated to kill her mother, how dare he! And then ask her to steal the very sword her father swore to protect. She looked up at the sky and then sighed, “Forgive me father, I will find a way to make things right, I promise. So don’t be mad okay?” She smiled sheepishly hoping that her father was not frowning at her wherever he may be, but then she leaned on the edge f the spring and watched two birds flying and playing around and it made her smile, she hoped her father had died in piece with no regrets and that his next life would be blessed with happiness and a long life. She swam back to the little waterfall making sure not to get her hair wet and then giggled, maybe once she was sure that the General was not roaming about she could bring her mother to the springs, surely she would enjoy the scenery and intimacy, she doubted anyone knew where this place was.

She moved back up taking another deep breath and releasing. Yes, this had been a good idea and she always enjoyed having some ‘me’ time. It was essential for all living beings, even though not many gave that the importance it deserved. And then they wondered why they felt overwhelmed all the time. She smirked, as much as she enjoyed taking a bath in these secluded hot springs, she knew she had to go back. Sighing in resignation she began to move away from the waterfall, the water still covering her modesty when the strangest thing happened and she was ‘not’ prepared for something of this nature. Usually Tamiko was the trickster, she outsmarted everyone was this fate laughing at her or something? It was also ridiculous, so ridiculous she would have rolled on the floor with laughter if she had not found herself in such a pickle. She looked at the clothes on the other side of the spring with regrets, if only they were closer so she could get dressed and flee!

She had felt a presence but now, she heard him. It was a man who had somehow fallen, hit a rock and keep falling in her direction! She placed her arms above her chest to cover herself as her scarlet eyes opened wide in surprise and dread. She decided to try and make a run for her clothes and she ran as fast as she could with half her body still in the water making it harder for her. It was such a crazy situation that she fo a moment forgot about her tanuki powers and just wanted to run for cover. She had had more than enough stress with Akhram kidnapping her mother and forcing her to act against her nature to have to deal with another man right now. She was in no mood either, she had come all this way to get away form everyone else and now this careless and foolish man screaming like a little boy had ruined her moment. She could not believe it and would have weed her arms at the sky screeching at the gods if she were not running for dire life. If he fell he would be fine, the water would ensure the fall was not too bad. She told herself so that she wouldn’t be worried about him instead of looking after herself. Life taught her to be little selfish sometimes. She had to admit he seemed to be struggling himself, but she found it hard to believe anyone would fall in such a way from such an obvious location. How on earth did he not see the cliff? And yet she decided she best be other way and stop trying to understand the situation with logic, there was none to be had.

“What the hell?!”

But it seemed that the goods wanted to play her a prank. The closer he got to her as she turned around to face him the more shocking this situation was. There was no way she would descale this quandary now. She screamed softly looking away too embarrassed to watch him land on top of her with a heavy thud. She gasped in surprise feeling his body on top of hers, her upper body was on the edge of the spring, she could feel the misty grass tickle her back she then slowly looked at his face lost in a trance. He had the greenest eyes she had ever seen and his dark hair suited him. She could feel the muscles on his body and her cheeks turned a light shade of vermilion. She had never taken notice of things like that in a man but now that is what shoved at her face she had no choice but let her mind run wild with very silly thoughts that did not help her cause. She watched as droplets of water fell from his dark hair and she found herself looking down shiny. Her ears twitched mimicking her panic. For the first time in her life she did not know what to do, at all. And she felt him try to move away but he seemed unable to. She knew that she would have a bruise on her lower back, but other than that both seemed to have come out of this situation unscathed.

For a moment she did not feel afraid, or embarrassed, it was a sensation she had never experienced, not after her father had been murdered, but she felt… safe and it shocked her. She knew nothing about this man, for all she knew he could be presenting just to take advantage of her, but no, she dared not look back into his eyes in fear that the trance might claud her judgement again. It was a sweet moment, and the water ripples gently stopped moving and all she could hear besides the singing of the birds was their breathing and all she could feel besides the warmth of his muscular body was their heartbeat, both were beating faster than normal in unison. And she found herself enjoying the sensation, for one she had never met anyone that could catch her, she had always escaped, but this man found her, but not only that, he caught her. She was baffled and in a way did not want the little moment to end. But it seemed they were not on the same page, and like a place of ice cold water he groaned in annoyance and then spoke once more. And all her ears heard were rude words.

“Don’t tell me you’re the stupid raccoon that stole our sword!”

And that was the mood killer. Right there. She was a bit disappointed but she was the trickster, the beautiful and lovely Tamiko and there was nothing he could do about it. She turned to look back at him and even though her first impulse was to snap back at him she smirked and ran a finger along his cheek, “Manners, you are still on top of me surely you could have waited for me to get dressed, no?” To his insult her ears twitched in anger but she added, “If I were stupid I would have been unable to steal the blade, and here we are, days later - took you long enough.” She tried to move away from him at that point because the pain in her lower back where the bruise was increased and she also did not want to be so close to such a brat anymore. He was a handsome man but… the first thing he did was insult her. Not a very good first impression… And yet, she tried to move away from him but she could not, the more she tried the closer he got if that was even possible! “Can you move away now? I won’t be going anywhere, I promise.” She nearly smirked, she was a trickster so she would obviously demand the privacy to get dressed and the she would disappear just as quickly as he found her. It was clear he did not like her anyway and she was a whale of a time pranking. Although she was tempted to stay and prank him until he exploded just to see how much he could take.

Daisuke couldn’t believe his luck. Not only has a tanuki stolen the sword his family had kept safe for generations, but his Grandmother had seen fit to curse him to try and get it back, when he finally found the tanuki… She was naked and bathing, and the stupid curse made him look like some sort of pervert.

There was an odd moment where - when his eyes met hers and everything seemed to sync up between them - that he felt… peace? Belonging? He didn’t know what it was, but it was both unnerving for its strangeness, and embarrassing for its intimacy.

“Manners, you are still on top of me, surely you could have waited for me to get dressed, no?”

Okay, so maybe he’d been a bit too rude,but honestly, she couldn’t think he was enjoying himself. He was very clearly trying to get away from her, but every time he managed to gain a little distance, they were drawn together again. “Trust me, you’re not my type.” He grumbled. Had his Grandmother really needed to be so…specific… with this curse? He knew he was supposed to keep an eye on the tanuki, but this was ridiculous…

“If I were stupid I would have been unable to steal the blade, and here we are, days later - took you long enough.”

Daisuke tried to lean back some, and finally managed to gain just a few breaths’ worth of space between them. “Some of us don’t have magical powers to fly away, we’ve got to get around on foot…” And personally, he thought that the fact that he had managed to track her down at all should be quite impressive, not that he needed to justify his actions to a thieving tanuki.

”Can you move away now? I won’t be going anywhere, I promise.”

He didn’t believe her, not for a second, but he needed to make the truth of their situation - and his helplessness in correcting it - clear to her … somehow. “Can’t you tell I’ve been trying to get away?” He had a sudden flash of inspiration, and decided to show her just how hard it was to move. He placed his arms on either side of her and braced himself with all of his strength, pushing against the rock with all of his might to finally create enough distance that she should be able to move. His arms shook with the force of fighting against the magical pull, and he turned his head to one side, closing his eyes. “It’s the damn curse my Grandmother cast on us. I’m stuck with you - literally - until we return the sword to the shrine…” It was very clear it took a great deal of effort to maintain the small amount of distance he’d created. “That’s how I fell in the spring. The curse took effect and drew me into you.” He gave a small grunt as he forced just a bit more distance between them. “Go ahead and slide out and get dressed. I’ve got my foot hooked on a rock to try not to come flying at you again. Hopefully once you’re dressed we can figure out how to get some breathing room…”

He didn’t trust her for a second when she said she wouldn't leave, but he knew his Grandmother’s magic was strong, and thus he would always be able to find her again. His knuckles were white from gripping the stone at the edge of the spring with all of his might, and his arms and legs were shaking from how tensely he had to hold them. Sweat beaded along his forehead, but he shook his head, not daring to let up his attempt to let her get out of the spring and recover some modesty. “If I know Grandmother…It’ll only be this strong for a little while, just to make sure that we’ve got the point. After that, we should be able to have a little distance between us…”

HE thought to himself that she was really very pretty, especially her eyes. That had nearly entranced him when he first landed in the spring. And he did think that her little ears were actually kind of cute. HE wondered if they were soft, like a cat’s ears, but then he pushed that thought away. She was an annoying, stupid raccoon girl that stole his sword and made his life even more difficult, just like every other woman in his life…