Dakyn

Interview with a Fox

• "Yes, Master"

  Welcome to your interview, slave. Even though you have come to us, I expect proper etiquette to be maintained at all times during this interview.
  ...
  Ehm... OK. This is somewhat unorthodox. Not many people sell themselves into bondage. Why don't we start with your explanation.
  No.
  If you want to proceed, I will need an answer. You wouldn't be the first supernatural creature to sell himself into slavery just to get close to someone they want to kill.
  Do I have to?
  Do you have to what?
  Do I have to explain my reasons to you?
  Ehm... ... ... ... I... guess... not. You don't seem dangerous...
  Thank you.
  Heh... continuing on, what is your name?
  Dakyn.
  That's... a pretty name. We'll have to assign you a new one; it is mostly for psychological reasons, you see.
  I like my name.
  I like your name too. But I really should assign you a new one.
  Do you have to?
  Yes -- well... no. I am the one filling our your papers. I... guess it's OK to keep your name.
  Thank you.
  That's... I mean, you're welcome! I am happy to help!
  ...
  Ahem... moving on, Dakyn.
  Master.
  What?
  Call me Master.
  No.
  ...
  Please don't stare at me like that. You're making me uncomfortable.
  Please?
  What...?! Look, you're, you're nice and all, and... you're pretty beautiful. And... actually, can I touch you? You look so soft, and, uh, I...
  Pet me.
  Th-thanks. I didn't -- ... you're so soft. My god, your fur is so...
  ...
  I... well... I guess, if I just... ...no one will know if I call you Master, right?
  ...
  So... let's continue on, M... Master...
  Yes.
  I... I, uhm... please don't touch that, I...
  ...
  ...ungh... uhm... mmm...
  Can you fill out the rest of the record without me?
  Of course, M-Master!
  Don't submit it to your superior. Forge his seal and store it directly to the vault.
  I will do that as carefully as possible, Master. ... ... Master, if I may... ... can we... spend some time alone together...? I would be honored... more than honored... your presence...
  Yes, slave.
  Thank you, Master! Thank you so much!
  Meet me in the storage rooms at midnight.
  Yes, Master.
  Oh... and bring along a playmate. Someone who hasn't been processed yet. I'd like to play game with you both...
  What kind of game, Master?
  A special kind of game. The winner will get to spend more time with me. The loser... the containers in the storage area are air-tight, aren't they?
  Yes they are, Master.
  Good. Make sure you and the playmate are... discreet. We don't want to start any rumors about what happened to the loser, do we...?
  Yes, Master.

• No master

  "Inari is a lie," said the nine-tails. "You must know this, Brother Six-Tails. How long has it been now?"
  
  The slaver vessel sailed quietly through the night, its sole navigator an emotionless golem. Its empty eyes stared right through them: its only concern was to guide the ship. The rest of the crew slept below deck, unaware of what was taking place under the glow of moonlight.
  
  "I have served this captain for forty-five years now. When it is time, Inari will give me a sign. She is our faithful Goddess," said the six-tails. As he spoke, his fingers traced the iron collar around his neck, its edges rusted from years of exposure to the salty sea air. "Although you are older and wiser, Brother Nine-Tails, it is sad to hear your words."
  
  "You have never once questioned the priests of the temple. Why?"
  
  "They serve Inari, and carry out her will. This is why I am here -- it is the will of Inari that I serve."
  
  "You shared the bed of the Head Priest's daughter. This influenced nothing?"
  
  "To misuse her name... do you not remember the Red Rain, Brother Nine-Tails?"
  
  "I was there, Brother Six-Tails, and it is exactly because of that event that I know she is a lie."
  
  The shackles that locked the six-tails shuddered; the iron groaned as muscles flexed beneath his soft red pelt.
  
  "Inari is a foul whore," the nine-tails continued, "She who has sown the fields with the blood of the farmer's children is nothing more than a self-important lie."
  
  The six-tails froze his place, eyes wide, as if he expected an immediate, merciless punishment to descend from the heavens.
  
  Yet nothing happened.
  
  "Your words... are foul," the six-tails finally replied.
  
  "Indeed. They are most foul. Yet where is my divine retribution?"
  
  "It will come to you, Brother Nine-Tails."
  
  "No, it will not, Brother Six-Tails. She cannot reach us here: her power is not absolute as she would have you believe. In the homeland, there is no one to contest her... but here? Here, there are dozens. Hundreds, perhaps."
  
  "Of what?"
  
  "Gods, Brother Six-Tails... Gods."
  
  "This is blasphemy."
  
  "Three hundred years seperate us, Brother Six-Tails. I am stronger than you -- you understand this. Yet it is not a divine right or fate that has blessed me with this strength... it is simply time. Time to grow strong, time to nuture my power." The nine-tails turned away, and reached his hands out to the ocean. The waters became choppy; the boat gently listed. "Think back, and remember your life as a One-Tail. The gulf of power between your past self and your present self: how wide is it?"
  
  "...very wide, Brother Nine-Tails."
  
  "Only three tails seperate us, Brother Six-Tails, but the gap between us is almost unfathomable. Thus, to the One-Tails you of the past, I would seem like a God."
  
  "..."
  
  "Yes. It is exactly as I am saying: all Gods are lies. They are simply beings with incredible power and unique attributes, nothing more. Inari will not cull me, because she cannot. There are hundreds here who would see her presence as a threat. Hundreds who would attack her with a strength that rivals her own. And of them, dozens that would kill her as easily as the children of the Red Rain."
  
  "...this is no less than an insurrection against her, Brother Nine-Tails."
  
  "It is a war against everything that would be worshipped as a God, Brother Six-Tails."
  
  The oceans churned. From its murky depths emerged a massive tendriled beast, its flesh purple and laced with an exoskeleton of smooth white bone. Its eyes were like blue fire lanterns gleaming in the night. The navigator solemnly turned the ship, deftly navigating around the sudden obstacle in silence.
  
  "..."
  
  "Nothing in this world is forever, Brother Six-Tails, and the years you have spent here can never be replaced. But you have a choice now: you can be free, or you can obey. As long as you have strength, Brother Six-Tails, what you do... that is entirely up to you."
  
  After several minutes, barely audible over the splash of waves against the ship's wooden hull, the sound of crumbling iron met the nine-tails' ears, and he smiled.