Kitsune Tales: Two Short Stories (5 page)

"You
won't." Yuri fought a grin. "You're like me. You love the gamble,
don't you? And what's better than gambling with something huge on the line?
Makes it way more fun."

Kaimana
growled in her ear.

The siren studied
her in silence for a long moment. She glanced at the door, then back to Yuri.
"And why should I trust you'll truly let me go if I win?"

Yuri gasped in
mock-offense, one hand at her chest. "On my honor as a
kitsune
,
you'll go free if you manage to beat me in a game of checkers."

Tullia
looked at her for another minute. Finally, she
smiled, showing the tips of her shark teeth. "I'll accept your wager. But
don't expect me to go easy on you because you're cute."

Yuri grinned.
Gotcha
. She led the siren over to the
vacated table and began setting up the board.

The pieces clicked
as
Tullia
made her first move.

Yuri carefully
lowered the agitated
Kaimana
to the table before
making her move. She slid her counter across the board, setting herself up for
a reckless strategy.

Kaimana
paced along the edge of the game, eye narrow slits
and tail whipping like a cat's.

The game went on
in tense silence, though the sounds of humanity roared around them like a
waterfall. It was exhilarating--the scrape of plastic against wood, the attempt
to stay two steps ahead of her opponent.

Tullia
took three of Yuri's pieces within the first five
moves.

"What are you
doing
?"
Kaimana
snarled as Yuri placed another of her counters. "That was the most idiotic
move I've seen yet,
hoaloha
!"

Yuri didn't take
her eyes off the game. "I know what I'm doing,
Kaimana-sama
."

The little
mo'o
bared its teeth at her, but said nothing more.

Yuri managed to
capture four of the siren's pieces. She twirled one of them around and around
in her fingers as she waited for her opponent's next move. The plastic clicked
against her fingernails.

Tullia
took minutes to decide on her move. She carefully
picked up her piece and placed it back down.

Yuri double-jumped
and collected the pieces. Now, she was winning.

"Cocky,"
Tullia
muttered. She slipped one of her counters to
Yuri's edge of the board.

Yuri's frowned,
but she dropped a piece onto the other to make it a king. She could still win
this, but
Tullia
having a king in the game would make
it harder. How had she not noticed the siren's strategy?

The game wore on.
The noise of the humans around them pressed on Yuri's sensitive ears, grating
on her nerves. She fidgeted under the table, her feet tapping and her hands
picking at her skirt or playing with the pieces she'd taken from her opponent.
Now and then, children would stop at the table to stare at the game. Some of
them tried to play with
Kaimana
, until the dragon
snapped its jaws at them. One of them suggested moves to both
Tullia
and Yuri, proclaiming that he was the checkers
champion at his school. Both players ignored his advice.

Finally, the game
came down to three pieces: Yuri's two kings and
Tullia's
one.
Kaimana's
anger had simmered to irritated
curiosity and it sat at the corner of the table, watching closely.

Biting her cheek
to keep from smiling too much, Yuri set about forcing the siren's sole
remaining piece into the
double-corner
. She finally
let herself grin when
Tullia
sat back and grunted in
disbelief.

"I win,"
Yuri proclaimed. She had trapped the siren at the edge of the board, with her
kings in position to jump
Tullia's
in either
direction.

Tullia
shook her head. Her chair scraped along the floor
with a sound that made Yuri shiver. She stood, her hands braced on the table, a
hint of golden webbing glittering between her fingers. "You might have won
the game, you vixen, but I'm not giving in that easily."

Yuri's breath
caught in her chest. "We had a deal."

"Give me the
pearl."
Kaimana's
back arched. It stalked along
the table toward
Tullia
, teeth bared.

Tullia
laughed. She leaned forward, until her face was
inches from Yuri's, and began to sing.

This time, Yuri
didn't stand by and wait for the siren to steal her magic. She snapped her head
forward as quickly and forcefully as she could. In hindsight, it wasn't her
best move ever--the pain that burst behind her eyes made her head spin--but at
least it stopped
Tullia
from singing.

The siren fell
back into her chair, eyes dazed.

"Serves you
right, bitch," Yuri muttered. She pushed her chair back and stood, though
she had to grip the edge of the table to keep from falling over. There were a
handful of humans talking to her, grabbing at her, but she shoved them away.
She was doing this for them, and all the other mortals this siren might
hurt.
 

Kaimana
scrambled through the scattered checkers, toward
Tullia
. "I wish you weren't so stubborn,
Tullia
."

The siren snorted
as she rubbed her temple. "Coming from you, darling? That's the best joke
I've heard in years."

Yuri rolled her
eyes at the squabbling and held out her hand. "The pearl."

Tullia
spat a curse in Greek. She slapped Yuri's hand away
and tried to sing again. Her voice wavered, but she didn't stop.

Yuri felt the tug
at her magic again, like someone pulling sharply at a rope that attached itself
to her breastbone. She held onto it this time, hoarding it deep inside
herself
, and clapped one hand over the siren's mouth. She
yelped when
Tullia
bit her palm, but didn't move
away. "Give me the damn pearl."

Tullia
bit her again.

Yuri smelled blood
this time, and her eyes watered with the pain. Instead of pulling away like the
siren wanted, she leaned closer. "You've got one more chance. Give me the
pearl, or I'll find a way to make sure you never step foot on land again."

Tullia's
eyes narrowed. She said something that was muffled
and indecipherable through Yuri's palm.

"She wears
the pearl in a pouch around her neck."
Kaimana
jumped onto Yuri's arm and wrapped its tail around her elbow to keep steady.

Yuri took a deep
breath, but nodded. If the siren wasn't going to hand over the pearl
voluntarily, she could take it on her own. It occurred to her that she should
probably have more of a problem shoving her hand down another woman's dress
than she did. All the same, she reached forward with her free hand.

Tullia
slapped her hand away.

Kaimana
sighed. "I will keep her from singing. You
retrieve the pearl."

"Yeah, yeah.
As long as she doesn't bite me again." Yuri reluctantly pulled her hand
away from the siren's mouth.

The
mo'o
spoke something in Hawaiian as it leapt back onto the
table. Yuri felt the magic sizzle through the air.

Tullia
opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She tried
again, with the same effect.

"Hurry,
hoaloha
; the spell will not last long."

Yuri swallowed a
smirk and plunged her hand down the front of
Tullia's
dress. Her fingers found a soft, silken pouch almost immediately. She grabbed
it and pulled away. "Is this it?"

Judging by the
look of horror on the siren's face, it was.

Pride flooded
through Yuri for a moment as she placed the little silver-blue pouch on the
table beside
Kaimana
. She'd done it. She'd managed to
grab the pearl, stop the siren, and not get herself killed in the process.
Piccolo could suck it.

"What the
hell do you think you're doing?" A mortal man with "Manager"
embroidered on his pinstripe uniform shoved his way through the little crowd
that had gathered to watch the scene. "This is a family-friendly
establishment!"

Yuri glanced
around at the circle of humans. She hadn't even realized they'd noticed what
was going on at their little table. How much had they seen? How much trouble
was she in?

Something familiar
tapped at her magic, alerting her to another powerful force nearby--Piccolo and
Webb had found them. Whatever trouble she was in with the mortals, she was
probably in about double with her partner. This day just couldn't get worse,
could it?

"You can't
have pets in here, either!" The manager pointed emphatically at
Kaimana
. "Get out before I call the cops!"

A deep voice spoke
from over Yuri's shoulder. "We're with Galveston P.D. What seems to be the
matter?"

Yuri glanced over her shoulder
and smiled weakly at Piccolo and Webb.
They
were both tall and radiated power, but that was about all they had in common.
Piccolo was whip-thin, dressed in a slick black suit that complemented his
ruddy complexion, and frowning disappointedly at her. Webb was
broad-shouldered, wore a
brightly-colored
t-shirt that
contrasted his ebony skin, and looking suspiciously innocent.

The manager
spluttered for a moment, motioning at Yuri and
Tullia
and
Kaimana
. "They--she--molesting her--lizards
on the table--"

"I see,"
Webb said seriously. He frowned at nothing for a moment, then nodded and
plucked at the air, like he was picking at the string of a harp. "There,
now. No harm, no foul. Go back to your business, all of you, and remember none
of this."

The power in his
words hummed in the air, making the hair on Yuri's neck stand on end.

The manager stared
at him, swayed back and forth, then turned and made his way to the offices at
the back of the store. The other humans went back to their business--children
playing, parents buying candy--as if nothing had happened.

Webb grinned and
brushed an imaginary speck of dust off his
shirt sleeve
.

"I could have
handled it," Yuri protested weakly.

Piccolo snorted
and slipped his hands into his pockets.

A squeak drew
Yuri's attention.
Tullia
was regaining her voice. She
stood, mouth open in preparation for a song.

"I don't
think so." Webb smiled at her and held out his big hand. "Come on
with me, child, and let's get you sorted.
In the ocean.
Where you belong."

Tullia
shook her head and shrank back in her chair.
 

Kaimana
put one little lizard foot on the pouch that held
the pearl, scooting it out of
Tullia's
reach.

Webb sighed.
"We won't hurt you. Come on now. Let's get you home."

"Either go
with him or
I'll
kick
your
ass this time," Yuri told her
smugly. Maybe she was being cocky, but she thought she could manage to beat the
siren if
Tullia
didn't have the magic in the dragon's
pearl. And part of her was more than eager to try.

"Make the
smart decision,"
Kaimana
pleaded gently from the
table.

Tullia
looked from Yuri to the dragon to Webb. She took a
deep, audible breath and finally reached out with trembling fingers.

Webb smiled again
and pulled
Tullia
out of her chair, muttering into
her ear as he led her out of the store.

Yuri slumped into
the nearest chair. She was both exhausted and wired up at the same time, like
her body couldn't decide if it wanted a nap or a run.

"I told you
to keep your distance." Piccolo's musical voice was soft as he slid into
the siren's vacated chair. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

Yuri smiled
tightly. "But I didn't."

He rolled his eyes
and shook his head.

Kaimana
peeked inside the little silver-blue bag. Its tail
lashed happily. "Excuse me,
hoaloha
."

Yuri didn't have
time to respond before the
mo'o
dove off the table
and skittered away into the crowd, the pouch wrapped around its neck. She
watched it disappear into the forest of mortal legs and strollers, feeling
slightly cheated--she'd helped it get its precious pearl back, and it wasn't
going to even say 'thank you'?

Piccolo started
scolding again, but Yuri didn't pay much attention. She sank back in her chair,
scrubbing at her face. Why couldn't he leave well enough alone? She hadn't
gotten too badly hurt--definitely less hurt than other missions she'd run--and
she'd gotten the job done before Piccolo and Webb had even managed to get
there.

"Sorry to
interrupt, but I wish to offer my thanks to my
hoaloha
,"
Kaimana's
soft voice cut off Piccolo's words mid-stream.

Yuri lowered her
hands from her face and looked toward the voice, expecting to see the little
lizard-dragon returned. Instead, she saw a woman--short and full-figured, with
golden skin and the lizard's storm-green eyes--standing beside the table with a
smile. Yuri couldn't help but stare. That surprisingly deep voice had belonged
to a lady-dragon the whole time?

"You have my
thanks, Yuri of
Skojare
.
Mahalo
.
If there is ever a thing I can do for you, please call upon me."
Kaimana's
smile widened just a fraction. The dragon moved
quickly and gracefully, bending down to press her lips softly to Yuri's.