CYBERFOX: The Nine Tales of Ayane
An original story by Stella Quetzacotl
First created: Mar 21, 2002
Last modified: Mar 21, 2002

~~~~~Legal Stuff~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a work of fiction written for entertainment purposes only.  All
characters are the sole property of the author.
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~~~~~Text Conventions~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[This is a character thought]
/This is a voice within a character's head/
*This is emphasized text*
{This is a spell}

	The Cathedral’s interior was just as elegant and imposing as 
its exterior.  Its walls were mosaics of white and gold tile, forming 
pictures of fantastic beasts and celestial bodies and glyphs that Kaiyo
could not read for the life of her.  There were fox-sized blocks of 
white marble at regular intervals around the edge of the chamber, 
presumably for sitting on, and a white-and-gold spiral staircase reared
up from the center of the room like a conch shell with its outer layer 
stripped away.  “Whoa,” Kaiyo breathed.
	“Cool, huh?” Denekaze commented, her white fur blending almost 
perfectly with the white decor.
	“How long did it take to build all this?” Kaiyo breathed.
	“Build?”  Denekaze looked at her, confused.
	Reijori took the last few feet to the spiral staircase in one 
leap.  “This is the spiritworld, Kaiyo-san.  Things aren’t built - 
they’re *created*.”
	Kaiyo blinked at the nine-tail.
	“In dreams,” Denekaze said quietly, “the spiritworld is given 
shape.  We kitsune are the artisans of the spiritworld - it’s our magic
that releases dreams to be planted and grow in the spiritworld, like 
seeds of a dandelion.”
	As her friend spoke, Kaiyo could feel air currents teasing her 
fur.  She shivered.  “Wow.”
	Reijori closed her eyes and nodded.  “That is why you must be 
careful what you dream, Kaiyo-san.”
	Kaiyo was about to ask what she meant, but her voice was cut 
off by a bloom of black fire on the spiral staircase, dancing 
triangular veils made of the complete absence of light.  She yipped and
jumped back, almost knocking down a suddenly rigid Saka-Chii.  Hiraiko 
gulped and Denekaze tensed as if ready for flight, but Reijori merely 
blinked calmly.
	The light-absorbing flame collapsed as abruptly as it had 
appeared, leaving behind an all-black kitsune with a bronze five-
pointed star on its forehead.  Its eyes were the same bronze color, but
they and the star were the only hints of color apparent on the kitsune.
It sported nine tails.
	“Kagedenri-sama,” Reijori intoned, inclining her head.  “You 
honor us.”
	“As do you, Reijori-sama,” the kitsune called Kagedenri said 
flatly.  “How long has it been since you have graced the spiritworld 
with your presence?”
	Kaiyo crept closer to Denekaze, towing an *extremely* reluctant
fish demon behind her.  “Who’s he?”
	“That’s Kagedenri-sama, the Representative of void kitsune,” 
Denekaze whispered.  Her tone warned against any further questions.
	“It has been exactly twenty-three years since the last Council 
meeting,” Reijori answered her colleague’s question coldly.  “If you 
would be so kind, how many of the other Council members are presently 
in this building?”
	“Including myself, and you, Reijori-sama, there are five of 
us,” Kagedenri answered.  “To what purpose do you ask?”
	“I wish to call a minor meeting, Kagedenri-sama,” Reijori said 
carelessly.  “It is a small matter, hardly worth bothering about, but 
all the same I would be honored if you would attend.”
	Kagedenri began to descend the staircase.  “But of course I 
will attend, esteemed colleague.  If I may, what sort of ‘small matter’
do I owe for the pleasure of your return to the Cathedral?”
	Reijori waited until their faces were almost level, then she 
said, “The elemental balance has shifted once again, and we as kitsune 
must compensate for it.”
	“Again?”  Kagedenri seemed amused, although his expression did 
not change.  “With all due respect, you seem to give minor fluctuations
much more weight than they truly warrant.”
	“’Minor’?  My esteemed colleague, I merely speak the truth as 
it is.  The Council in a few centuries may have fourteen seats instead 
of thirteen.”  She cocked her head at Kaiyo.  “See for yourself.”
	Kagedenri’s eyes fell on Kaiyo for the first time.  “You jest.
A new kitsune?”  Suddenly his eyes flickered and Saka-Chii’s grip on 
Kaiyo’s tail tightened to the point of hurting.  Kagedenri’s expression
did not change, but the air around him seemed to warp as rage gathered 
around his form.  “You!”  he thundered.  “How dare you come here!?”
	“Yeep,” Kaiyo answered.  The nine-tail leapt from the staircase
to land square in front of her, tails flared to their fullest extent, 
fur bristling, lips curled in a snarl.  “You have some nerve after what
you did, fish-demon!”
	“Fish - ” Kaiyo said weakly.  She whirled , catching her 
follower in her sight.  “Why didn’t you *tell* me that there was a 
nine-tail that had a grudge against you?” she squeaked.
	Saka-Chii wasn’t listening, being currently occupied in the 
absorbing task of being scared out of his scales.
	“You were ordered not to come back here, fish-demon,” Kagedenri
snarled.  “Now be *gone!*” He opened his mouth.  {Void Fire!}
	“No!” Kaiyo reacted without thinking.  {Firewall!}  The silver
shield slapped into place, forming an egg around Kaiyo and Saka-Chii. 
Kaiyo shrieked as the Void Fire hit - it was too strong, ripping apart 
her magic, reaching tendrils between the cracks to lick at her skin.  
Kaiyo wasn’t sure if it was the magic or the pain keeping her from 
leaping away.  Her bones were creaking.
	Kagedenri’s attack broke off abruptly.  “What, whelp?” he 
snapped.
	“Oww.”  Kaiyo staggered, shaking her head, as Saka-Chii dropped
to his knees behind her, hugging a tail to himself in his terror.
	“Kagedenri-sama, use your senses.”  Reijori’s tone was 
reproachful.  “The fish-demon is apprenticed under Kaiyo-san now.  Not 
even you can touch him.”
	The black fox-spirit bent his head to get a good look at 
Kaiyo’s face.  “Apprentice a deathmarked demon?  What in creation 
possessed you to do that?”
	Kaiyo bristled but said nothing.
	“She didn’t know it was deathmarked!” Denekaze protested.  She 
squeaked and scrabbled back when Kagedenri gave her a glare.
	“This is truth,” Reijori affirmed.  “She is a new kitsune, and 
can’t know what a deathmark is.  In any case, the deed is done, the 
fish-demon is attached to her, and the only one who can undo this is 
her element’s Representative.”  There was a trace of amusement in her 
voice.
	Kagedenri gave his colleague a sidelong glance.  “Which reminds
me, esteemed one.  What exactly is her element?”
	“Technology, machinery, Internet, computer code,” Reijori said 
offhandedly.  “My friend, Toshimoete - you’ve heard of him - coined the
term ‘cyber’ a while ago.  For want of a better word, I have taken to 
calling her by that title.”
	“Cyber.”  Kagedenri furrowed his brow.  “It occurs to me, 
Reijori-sama, that with a matter of such importance, the rest of the 
Council really must be allowed to discuss this, in a Meet.  Do you 
agree?”
	Denekaze sucked in her breath.  Hiraiko’s tails flared in 
reverence.
	Reijori nodded.  “A Meet it is, Kagedenri-sama.”

	“I still don’t understand why Denekaze and Hiraiko had to wait 
outside,” Kaiyo muttered to herself, eyeing a seemingly-meditating 
Kagedenri from across the Council's circular inner chamber.
	Reijori heard her, however.  “We’re breaking enough rules just 
allowing you here.  Tradition states that only Representatives are 
allowed in this room,” she said quietly.  Which was a shame - far from 
the white and gold that made up the decor of the rest of the Cathedral 
almost exclusively, this room was graced with sparkling geometric 
mosaics that sported every color in the rainbow.  Thirteen blocks of 
gold-threaded marble sat at equal intervals around the circular 
chamber - thrones of the Representatives.  Reijori sat on one, her 
tails draped behind her like a bridal veil, and Kaiyo sat on the floor 
by her side.
	"Tradition, right."  Kaiyo was tempted to tell Tradition 
exactly where it could go and what it could do with itself when it got
there.  It was because of tradition that she’d been suckered into 
taking on a demon follower in the first place.  It was also because of 
tradition that she’d been attacked because of it.  Her muscles still 
ached from Kagedenri’s Void Fire onslaught.
	The first Council member to appear was a gold-furred ninetail 
with white sealpoint, making her entrance with a flash of clear gold 
light.  “Futanri, Celestial Representative,” Reijori whispered to 
Kaiyo.  She nodded to the newly-arrived fox-spirt politely.
	“Well met, honored colleague,” Futanri intoned.  “And well met,
new kitsune.”
	Kaiyo dipped her head in a fox bow, wordlessly.
	White light heralded the arrival of another ninetail.  This one
was completely white and had wide green eyes - he could have been 
Denekaze if she’d had six more tails and a notch in her right ear.  He 
proceeded to his throne, next to Futanri’s, with no acknowledgement of 
either Reijori or Kaiyo, but Reijori flicked her tails and nodded 
greeting to him anyway.  “Komokuri, Wind Representative,” she murmured.
	A green-eyed brown fox appeared moments ahead of a gray-and 
tawny fox.  "Time Representative, Nakemuri, and Thunder Representative,
Hakeyori," Reijori whispered, nodding to the newcomers.  They nodded in
return before taking their seats.
	Kaiyo lost track of the names as soon as they were introduced, 
but it didn't take long for all thirteen  Representatives to make their
appearances in the chamber.  The foxes arranged themselves on their 
cubic thrones, murmuring to each other, casting speculative glances at 
Kaiyo.  She crouched and draped her tails over her body, wanting to 
hide in their soft depths.
	Futanri, across the chamber from Reijori and on a ninety-degree
angle from Kagedenri, lifted her head and thrummed.  It was a sound 
akin to a cat's purr, but held undertones of a lion's growl.  The 
chamber grew silent, expectant.  "The Meet is begun," the celestial
kitsune intoned.
	The room exploded with magic.
	Describing it to Denekaze later, Kaiyo said it felt as if she 
were a thirteen-point compass, being pulled in all directions.  Each 
point drew at her like a black hole, trying to suck her in and failing 
only because of the presence of the other twelve black holes all 
drawing her away to their own hungry maws.  They were insatiable, those
points of magic.  Her muscles clenched against the sensation even as 
her own paltry magic sprang up in response, seeking to shelter her.  
Against the cacophonous orchestra of the Representatives, her thin
melody went unnoticed.
	"We are here," Futanri continued, her voice like the shriek of 
meteorites in atmosphere, "to examine the shifting of the balance 
wheel.  Spirit Representative Reijori-sama has made a discovery in the 
human realm.  I yield the floor to her."
	"I thank you, Celestial Representative," Reijori responded 
gravely.  "All, I speak from experience when I say that this day will 
decide the destiny of our race.  My residence in the human realms 
serves a dual purpose - my powers are at their apex among humans, 
first, and it is my self-imposed duty to monitor the fluctuations of 
the elements from outside the spiritworld.  It is for this reason that 
I was in a position to witness the advent of a new element."
	Murmurings ensued, accompanied by a wash of hot prickly magic 
across Kaiyo's flesh.  She shivered painfully.   "With all due respect,
Reijori-sama," the Ocean kitsune broke in, her voice like the roar of a
typhoon, "minor flickers in the wheel hardly constitute a new element."
She flicked a tail at Kaiyo.  "What is that mountain fox doing *here*?"
	"She is no mountain fox," answered Toshokuri, the Mountain 
representative.  "I challenge any to dispute it.  I've never seen her 
like, but she's not under my dominion."
	"Then what is she?" demanded the River sovereign, Chiameri.
	Reijori cleared her throat, mildly, and the room quieted.  "She
is the first of a new breed," the spirit fox announced, her voice like 
the hoarseness of a thousand desperate prayers and a thousand battle 
cries.  "She is an avatar born when her kitsune blood awoke in her 
human body.  Her dominion is cyberspace."
	"A cyberspace element?"  Chiameri queried.  "Cyber?"
	"It can't be," Dangeri the Fire representative growled.  "The 
future fires - "
	"But what if - "
	" - can't be *sure* - "
	"Bretheren," Kagedenri barked.  "We get ahead of ourselves.  
Use your noses - the whelp stinks of the human realms.  She's half-fox,
barely half-fox."
	If Kagedenri's backwash of magic hadn't been buffeting her with
shadow lightning, Kaiyo's hackles would have risen at his tone.  "Is 
she unwelcome here then?" Reijori asked mildly.  "I was unaware 
spiritworld law had changed so much."
	"She can walk among our people well enough," the fire-fox 
snapped.  "But she has no place among the Thirteen."
	"Untangle your tails, fire reader," the music kitsune, 
Nozukenri, snapped.  Her voice was like being trapped inside a giant 
iron bell ringing unceasingly.  "If she's fox enough to enter this 
room, she's fox enough to be worthy of our attention."  She shot a kind
look at Kaiyo, whose perpetual cringe eased in reply.
	"I say let the whelp answer for herself," the Earth kitsune 
Hameiri broke in, for the first time.  "Give her the trial by fire, and
let that decide our course."
	"Don't be foolish," Reijori rumbled.  "She's a double-tail.  I 
doubt you could have taken the fire-trial at that stage, don't expect 
her to surpass you."
	"So you admit she's less than full kitsune?" Kagedenri prodded 
slyly.
	"I admit nothing of the kind."
	"The fire trial is nothing more than distilled kitsune magic," 
the Earth fox pointed out.  "She will survive, if she's got the fur for
it."
	"If she passes," Kagedenri added, "I'll be the first to put my 
support behind her."  His eyes glinted.
	Reijori went very still as kitsune heads nodded in agreement 
all around the room.  The wash of magic grew more clamorous, and Kaiyo 
cowered in her tails.
	"Very well," Reijori said finally, softly.  "Her blood and 
magic are on your muzzles.  But let me be the one to administer it."
	"How do we know you won't - " began the Wood representative, 
who was quickly shushed by Komokuri next to him.
	"Kaiyo-san."  With Reijori's voice came a wash of calm, like a 
protective bubble around Kaiyo's body.  The cyberfox relaxed and looked
up as Reijori stretched her near tail out to touch her student's nose. 
"Take this in your mouth.  It will be painful, but don't be afraid."
	[Fire trial,] Kaiyo thought, drawing back slightly.  [Well, if 
this's all been a dream, chances are I'll wake up when I grab that 
tail.  This is the acid test.]  She flattened her ears.  [Can't 
hesitate.]
	Her jaw closed lightly around Reijori's tail.
	Reijori winced as Kaiyo's teeth clamped on her tail tip, but 
she endured it stoically - it had to be mild compared to what the 
spirit fox was inflicting in return.  Kaiyo's body twisted on the 
floor, paws scrabbling at the tile, tails flaring as if casting a 
spell.  Long, high vocalizations of pain escaped her throat.
	"She's dying," Kagedenri whispered hungrily.
	"She's enduring," Chiameri corrected.
	"Is she proven, colleagues?" Futanri demanded.
	"Yes!" cried Nozukenri. 
	"No!" roared Dangeri.
	Reijori said nothing.
	Before she lost consciousness, Kaiyo moved beyond her pain into
a cloudy silver non-world in her head.  She floated, milky eyes 
flicking about, ears twisting to follow something that moved faster 
than sound.
	{Cyber Fire!} she spelled, breathing the flames from her mouth.
	The flames hit their target and dissipated, around a human-
shaped figure sillouhetted by clouds.  /Thou hast found me,/ it said.
	[Who are you?  What are you doing here?] the fox raged.  [Are
you the same voice from my dreams?]
	/Aye./  The voice was a little sad.  /Thou dost not trust me.  
'Twas not the case before thee awoke./
	[Well, I'm awake now, and I demand an explanation.]  Kaiyo's 
anger was abating, but she was still bristling with suspicion.
	/Ask no explanations of me, Kaiyo.  I like thee - thou art 
aglow with thy strength.  But I need not explain to thee why I woke 
thee./
	Kaiyo growled.  [Stop talking in riddles.]  Then she stopped. 
[Wait.  Are you saying - that you're responsible for my - my being 
Kaiyo?  A fox-spirit?]
	/I told thee to ask no explanations./
	[That's it, isn't it?]  The cyberfox gave him a white-toothed 
grin.  [You're ducking the question - I must be right.]
	A laugh, full of humor for its coldness.  /Ask thy mentor about
me./
	[Reijori?]
	{Kaiyo!}  The spell-word snapped the cloud-world in half, 
sending Kaiyo flying into painful darkness with a surprised shout.

	"Kaiyo?  Wake up!"  Denekaze's voice was urgent.  For what 
seemed to be the fifth time, she put her magic into the word.  {Kaiyo, 
can you hear me?}
	Kaiyo's eyes popped open - and she regretted it immediately.  
"Ow.  Turn off the light, would ya?"  She rolled onto her stomach.  
"Ooh.  What happened?"
	"You survived the fire trial."  Denekaze nosed her friend.  
"Are you okay?"
	"Not really."  Kaiyo opened her eyes, just a little.  She was 
in a small, richly furnished room, lousy with velvet pillows in jewel 
tones, with deep gray draperies.  The colors were tasteful but 
oppressive to Kaiyo's eyes.  "How long have I been out?"
	"Not long.  A few hours."  Denekaze smiled.  "You were brave.  
Reijori-sama said you didn't scream, not once."
	Memory, pain-filled memory rushed Kaiyo with a suddenness that 
made her want to shake.  "My jaws were locked.  I'm surprised I didn't 
bite Reijori-sama's tail off."
	"You did."  
	At that Kaiyo's head flew up.  "You're kidding."
	"Nope.  Right before you passed out."  Denekaze smiled sadly. 
"She didn't even wince.  And it didn't bleed all that much, so it was 
just the very tip."
	"Ma-an."  Suddenly aware of her pounding headache, Kaiyo 
flopped to her side.
	"But it was worth it," the wind fox said quickly.  "The Council
accepts you as a kitsune now.  Or most of them do.  Enough do, anyway."
She shook her head.  "Reijori-sama says one day you'll be a 
Representative.  Just think about it, Kaiyo-chan, you as a Council 
member!"
	Kaiyo made a sour face.  "I don't want to be a Council member. 
All they do is bicker.  Bicker and pick on me."
	Denekaze looked horrified, but was saved from having to answer 
when Reijori entered via a flare of charcoal-colored light.  "Good, 
Kaiyo-san.  You're awake."
	Kaiyo considered getting to her feet but decided against it.  
"Your tail?..."
	Reijori held up her rightmost tail tip, now graced with a red 
bandage.  "Barely a scratch.  You had best be more worried about 
yourself.  A fire trial is no small thing."
	"Reijori-sama," Denekaze said, stepping forward, "why did you 
give Kaiyo the trial?  It could have-"
	"Kaiyo is a kitsune," Reijori interrupted, shaking her head.  
"As you and I are.  The fire trial could not have killed her.  As for 
why, I was forced to do so to protect her.  I do not doubt Kagedenri, 
for example, would have given her a more liberal dose of distilled 
magic.  The minimum amount to justify the trial was quite enough."
	"Where's Saka-Chii?" Kaiyo said suddenly.
	Reijori cleared her throat.  "He is waiting outside.  It was 
his preference."
	"Disloyal little thing," Denekaze snorted.
	Kaiyo was at a loss.  She decided to change the subject.  "What
about Hiraiko?"
	"He's off somewhere," Denekaze shrugged.
	"Miss me?"  Hiraiko slunk through the low doorway to the room, 
looking as if he should be picking canary from his teeth.
	"Not particularly," Denekaze snapped.  Reijori just regarded 
him coolly.
	Hiraiko studiously ignored both of them.  "Anyway, I heard 
about the fire trial.  Nice job, Kaiyo."
	Kaiyo bared her teeth.  "Right."
	Reijori stood.  "You ought to get some rest.  You're still 
recharging."  With judicious flicks of her tails Reijori herded 
Denekaze and Hiraiko from the room.
	"Rest."  Kaiyo sighed.  She couldn't sleep - not with the 
disembodied, intrusive voice hanging around in her head.  She'd rest 
for awhile... close her eyes, maybe.  It occurred to Kaiyo that she 
hadn't asked her teacher about the voice.
	That was the last coherent thought she had before slipping into
sleep.

	"What happens now, Reijori-sama?" Denekaze queried as the three
foxes walked away from Kaiyo's room.  Saka-Chii fell into step behind 
them, silent.
	"Kaiyo's acceptance as a kitsune is only the first step to 
adjusting the balance wheel," Reijori mused, more to herself than to 
Denekaze.  "For the cyber element to take its proper spoke, Kaiyo must 
be given a seat on the Council.  A fourteenth seat."
	"There's only room for thirteen," Hiraiko pointed out 
obstinately.
	"At the moment.  The Council can be convinced to add a chair...
if Kaiyo can gain nine tails."
	There was a pregnant silence.  "But that could take..." 
Denekaze began.
	"Centuries."  Reijori nodded.  "If she does it the natural way.
There are other ways to obtain tails.  But the journey will force her 
to give up her old life.  I do not know if she is ready for that step."
	"It's no big deal," said Hiraiko scornfully.  "Human life.  
Don't know why you'd wanna choose that over fox life."
	"Shut up, Hiraiko.  You wouldn't understand."  Denekaze bared 
her teeth at her second cousin.  Hiraiko snarled in retaliation.
	"In any case, it is Kaiyo's choice," Reijori said quickly, 
before things could degenerate.  "But I worry about the possible 
consequences if the cyber throne is not crafted before too long."
	Denekaze looked up.  "Consequences?"
	"Whether or not Kaiyo takes her place on the Council, cyber is 
a living, breathing element.  Just as wind or fire.  But without a 
Representative in the Council to control it, an element can... run 
wild."  Reijori's eyes darkened with memory.  "The results are 
disastrous."
	"You mean the spiritworld could-" Denekaze gasped.
	"It could.  It almost happened, once, although you are too 
young to remember.  The force of an unchecked element could rip the 
spiritworld asunder."

Next chapter...
Kaiyo must make a choice - is she fox or human?  And will the kitsune
council accept her choice?