#jiyuku

[lustrous-dawn]

Loyal Suns

Roshi gnashed his fangs. He knew he was being hard on the runt; the truth was he couldn't help it. Hikori reminded him so much of his younger self. So young, filled with innocence and youth. 

He wasn't the least bit subtle about it. His blunt honesty was the entire truth, never a game. Why mask it to spare the runt's feelings when he needed to grow? 

He was who he was.

“You lack manners. So bull-headed.” A soft voice in his ears, the touch of fingers through his mane, coaxing him to relax. “You make even the mightiest of Tauros bent the knee yet you cannot bring yourself to curve your temper. That will not do, follower of mine.” 

Akimitsu’s voice, an echo. The Arcanine stopped abruptly. With a roar, his paw raked furious grooves into the soil. “STOP PLAGUING ME WITH YOUR MEMORIES!”

“Let us sit together and enjoy the warmth of the sun. Perhaps if you take the time to think, it may help you see the error of your ways-”

“YOU'RE DEAD!” He furiously plowed into the earth, an upheaval of sharp stones rising through the soil with every stomp. 

Amidst his tantrum, he missed the small sight of the Staravia. She didn’t quiver at the sight of destruction. He would have commended her for having a spine on a different day. Not now as Roshi emitted a snarl, “I don’t believe I asked for your damned company.” Like the rest of the lot who decided to grace him with their presence, he had no choice but to tolerate it—no more. “And no. That runt is not like that bastard.” 

The growl in his voice was one ever-rising, a whisper of a mischievous smirk danced around in his mind. 

The golden fox of old. A friend. An enemy. A grimace broke across the Arcanine's features before he quickly recovered, his eyes filled with anger as he focused on Mina.

“Your fucking theory couldn't be further off the mark!" Roshi barked. "And you know what? I’m tired of you lot, nosing around in my business.” The Arcanine lifted a paw, a malicious glint in his eyes.

"None of you are taking me seriously! So I'll make you understand, one fucking way or another!"

"Stop."

The single word stopped the hound in his tracks, his paw quivering above the bird. He recognized it.

"Grk..." Roshi treaded nervously on his paws as the Ninetales approached, entering his view. That damn smirk. "Jiyuku..." As the mist surrounded them, no wonder he hadn't seen the Ninetales skulking about. But that was how Jiyuku was.

He was only seen when he wanted to be seen.

"I had believed Akimitsu taught you manners but I see nothing has retained in that thick skull of yours," Jiyuku rebuked him. "Have you forgotten the duty she has passed onto us, Roshi?"

@askpokecallcenter

[ The art here is done by @askcapital ]

[nixnjix]

"Forgive me. I'm not myself, I know."

Jiyuku couldn't look her in the eye, his gaze directed inward. "I thought myself better with this but I feel I am stumbling about like a newborn kit."

He heard the click of her tongue, felt her tails weaving and entangled with his own. Her warmth pressing into his stiff figure helped relieve... uncertainty. It relaxed him for a short time, allowing that warmth to seep in.

Where all else he was confident, he was unsure he was doing right by this relationship. 

"You? Stumbling?" She sounded incredulous. "Coming from the kit who stuck by me despite my splashes and insults. Numerous times," she reminded him. Her hand now sought his, their hands entangled. 

"Splashes?" He laughed. "Your waves were like a tsunami. If I were less durable, I doubt even I would have survived. And we have been over this," he nuzzled the side of her head, "you were hurt. No harm was done. Except one." His brows furrowed. "It stung my pride a little bit."

She snorted, tapping his head. "You deserved it." 

"I did. I was behaving like a… stuck-up bitch you called it, no?" 

She nudged him, "You didn't have to repeat it word from word!"

"My memory of this is quite clear. I was behaving out of character… You didn't deserve that."

"Ji." 

"Tama. Please. I haven't been successful with my previous relationships." He knew her however. She was loyal. Maybe a tad brutal with her honesty but remained loyal. 

She raised a brow, "I haven't exactly been successful either. We're learning."

"Learning." Over a thousand years old and he was still learning to this day. "I see I haven't learned the ways of the heart."

"You have been doing well so far," she praised him. She brushed her lips against his temple. "We're still learning our own language. Give it a little time."

He smiled softly. "I like the sound of that. Our language." 

[floofangel]

A very foxy shipmas surprise~

Looks like this year has been filled with lots of foxes so what better way to end it than with more XD

Characters here belonging to @Kitsurain, @rosendark, @nekonayz, and @bluedoodles

[kairisk]

Commission for @nekonayz! 

Painted comic of their Kitsune deity Jiyuku enjoying a lantern festival ;V

[lustrous-dawn]

With Zhen's situation hopefully on the horizon, we find ourselves back in the forest, Two loyal Suns of old standing ground-

_______

“She's fucking dead and you know that better than anyone else.” She would be rolled in her grave if she knew what he had done but that's neither here nor there. The air, humid, felt heavy under the small droplets of rain. Roshi's eyes were fixed on Ninetales in front of him.

“Her spirit has left this plane but we are still tied to our oath, imbecile,” Jiyuku hissed. “Yet you fail to comprehend what true fidelity is.” His eyes narrowed upon the beads around the Arcanine’s neck, the deep azure hue that rose in response to Roshi’s apprehension. A sea god? “Now you show me you were never worth the station she granted you, tail tucked between your legs at the mere sight of me as you wear another god’s colors.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

A sound of agitation. “Why did I ever agree to work alongside you- The beads, you idiot.”

Roshi glanced down. Kyogre warned him that it would react to the perceived threat of danger. A mutter from Roshi, “Why the hell would I ever go to a sea god? You know me.”

“Unfortunately I do.” Jiyuku made a face as if the reminder sickened him. “That does not answer my question.”

“Why the hell do you want to know!? Didn't you come here to scold me or whatever the hell you came here for?” Roshi was keen to get the hell away from the Ninetales. The wound over his eye throbbed in Jiyuku's presence, remembering Jiyuku was the one who wounded him. Anger had overtaken the initial apprehension, and the Arcanine planted himself in place.

“To remind you of your oath.” Jiyuku's tails fanned out behind him. “I have been tending to the region's spirits for the better part of four centuries now. The new generation does not have the time necessary to grow and keep them in check.”

“You're here to make my life fucking difficult,” Roshi snarled.

“I am here to get you back on track,” Jiyuku corrected. “To remind you what you used to be.” An unreadable look. “You might have even gained some weight. Pity. You were always the fit one between us.”

“Like hell I have!” Still, he lifted his paws and checked, scowling at Jiyuku's chortle. “I don't need your help.” Never have. Never will. Eyes filled with scorn, Roshi turned.

“Now you run from your problems instead of facing them head-on. Coward.”

Roshi halted, mud splattering along the wood. “What did you call me?”

“I called you a Coward.”

Jiyuku was once a guardian he respected, maybe even better than him—Roshi could accept that. It would be a lie to say he hadn't relied on the cunning fox's wits to escape a situation or two. He was envious to see the attention Jiyuku had gotten from Akimitsu in the end as he watched from afar. He was the senior but still, Roshi couldn't compare to the likes of Jiyuku.

“But you didn't have the balls to do what had to be done.” His growl matched the rumble of thunder overhead. The signs were there. Her steadily rising absence from the public eye, their Ho-oh becoming more reclusive by the day. Kazuki foolishly blamed them for their goddess behavior but they knew it was simply an excuse. “She was so far gone and none of you wanted to see it.”

A shell of her former self. Her once pristine feathers had begun to molt and decay, losing their shimmer, becoming a sinister black. It had sent prickles down his spine. It was foul, Roshi’s nostrils flared at the memory of his goddess hunkering down, barely able to lift her head.

“I know you felt it.” Words sharp as claws. Bound by oath, they were attuned to their goddess. “You couldn't call that living.”

“There could have been another solution! You of all of them were the most devoted!” Jiyuku was the most competent but he never held the Goddess’ attention for long. He was content with it, Roshi was the first, it was only proper. The connection, she placed her faith entirely upon him. Jaw clenched, Jiyuku hissed, “And it only makes what you have done all the more heinous.”

“See, it's that wishful thinking that doesn't get shit done! I knew you were smart but not fucking naive like some kid!” Maybe Jiyuku wasn't the superior know-it-all Roshi thought he was. Jiyuku had the age over him but not steel. “She was going to die! There was no coming back from it! Goddess or not, once the rot spreads, you know what happens.”

Pain unimaginable, the Arcanine buckling beneath the weight of it. Emotional, physical. But he relented, his eyes filled with a torrent of tears as he faced his goddess rotting before him. Flesh in his maw, he gagged, nearly emptying the contents of his stomach as he tossed it away.

“That's the difference between you and I.”

“You killed her…”

A croak from the bushes, the trembling frame of Hikori in the bushes. The runt was afraid. Roshi gritted his fangs. “That's where I failed. She should have died then.” Hateful gaze fixated on Jiyuku. “Had he not got in the way, she wouldn't have escaped me.”

“You had to be stopped.”

“That's rich! You think it was a good idea that she didn't die! Think about it! She made that idiot watching over the region now. What if she made him wrong? What if he's the reason shit is fucked up now!?”

He turned, his eyes fierce on Hikori. “If you don't fix things like that damn Celebi had promised me, I'll kill him. So you better fucking shape up now, runt.”

[lustrous-dawn]

[ Previous / Next ]

"You weren't there! I saw it!" Roshi roared. 

The stench of death still clung to his fur no matter how many times he desperately wanted to wash free of it. Pungent, like fur coating his tongue. Putrid, rotting. No matter how battle-hardened he may have been, it still caused his stomach to rebel. 

He wanted to throttle the Ninetales in front of him. So cool and calm, collected,  in front of him, his expression of a clean slate.

"And yet you stand in front of me?! Unphased by the shit we saw!?" 

"And it will be infinitely worse since you have gotten in my way.” Finally a reaction from the fox. Not one he was expecting. The Ninetales gave him a frigid look, the Arcanine flinching. 

Me?! Afraid?! Flames erupted from his maw at his reaction. “They deserved something more than what we gave them, damn fox! You know what happens to spirits around here!” 

“And the local Ninetales will handle it. But. We. Must continue our search,” Jiyuku stressed, unphased by the fire. 

“You know, you’re a real piece of work,” Roshi spat. "You deserved what you got-"

The words never escaped his maw. Roshi found himself pinned to the ground, a claw pressing tightly on his throat. 

The sheer anger he felt roiled off Jiyuku, the Ninetales' tails flared out as a fan behind him, whipping wildly. His face was of an ancient rage, his maw a snarl as flames of his own, fire of gold and orange spewed from his jaws, "You know nothing about me, stupid mutt. Our time together was fleeting. Don't believe what they have done to me was just because of your idiocy and anger has blinded you." 

Fury arched through Roshi in a hot wave as he surged with a roar. He scarcely registered the surprise on the fox's face as he rose to lunge, fangs bared.

"THAT IS ENOUGH, YOU TWO!!" 

A gust of harsh winds and the pair found themselves locked and pinned to the earth, talons of gold holding them in place. 

Akimitsu had found them and they cowered as her beak lowered to screech, "YOU TWO ARE IN MY DOMAIN! YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OF MY HOSPITALITY AND MY NAME! BEHAVE!" 

Frozen by her voice, the two lay in waiting as the Ho-oh flared her wings, simmers of gold emitting from her frame, she continued without missing a beat, "I accept mistakes but I do not tolerate disrespect. You both will respect me and each other when you are in my presence. Do you BOTH understand?" 

They both nodded rapidly, feeling the heat surrounding them rising, uncomfortably so. 

"Good. Now tell me why you both were fighting." 

[nixnjix]

Jiyuku gave her a look of acknowledgement, eyes darting towards the hand softly placed on his thigh. "This position is rather intimate. Is this your way of staking your claim upon me?" He mused.

She leaned in close, lips to his ear. "I thought you reciprocated. You placed your mark first." She peeled back her collar, revealing teeth marks along her collarbone. 

"I would say yes but" -his glance became flat, his tone harsh- "you come to me with the scent of another male on your skin."

She leaned away, chuckling at the unbidden menace in his voice. "Possessive?"

"I do not share." He swept aside her hand upon his thigh, his face averted. "Find your way back from whence you came. I no longer want any dealings with you." 

He knew his words stung, briefly catching sight of her flinching before she stormed away in a rush. He expected loyalty, a trait that was rare to come by but all of them seemed to be the same. 

Eager to want a taste, to experience a glimpse of a good life and bless. Willing to do anything.

He rolled his eyes, keeping his gaze forward. "Greedy humans…"

[nixnjix]

@uretnik did a sketch page of Jiyuku and @floofangel Tamakawa as a birthday gift, happy belated bestie

Maytheybefoeverhappy.