^^ The Demons of the North-West ^^

--- Tama Arashi-Kumo ---

"Friends, the Great Opal Emperor is very pleased with these events, and as such, will be asking you all to spread the word. In three months, on the crest of the New Year, as this becomes the Year of the Dragon, my Eldest Daughter and Heir will be marrying Prince Tama Arashi-Kumo of the Great Jade Empire, and binding our great houses for all time!" He smiled, and clapped softly, enticing another round of polite applause.

I bowed to the princess, and she slowly returned it, abruptly reminded of her situation.

"Now that the formalities are done with, the Great Opal Emperor invites our guests from the Jade Empire to lunch with us and our Heir, tomorrow at noon." He nodded and stood up, causing a ripple-effect over the crowd.

He walked out, taking half the courtiers with him, and I hummed at Tiān-Kōng. "Would you like a drink?" I asked her.

She smiled. "Gods I could use one, yes. Follow me." She started walking, and we left the palace, (Sora returning to the female dragon, and promptly engaging in another round of mating, which shook the palace,) heading towards the docks.

"The Docks? Ahh, a Tavern! Been a while since I went into a Tavern." I nodded, and looked for the scent of alcohol as we approached a quaint little building near the water.

She looked at me oddly. "I don't recognize that word... no, this is Odeon." She moved a small curtain, and stepped into a room that smelled of grilled meat and Chinese wine.

I followed, and the princesses armed escort of six soldiers simply walked in, sitting in the tables surrounding her chosen seat.

I grinned. "I like it... Lee-Kahn, Ten-Moro, dine with the soldiers, get to know them." I said quietly.

They nodded, and sat behind me, as the owner of the building brought out what I assumed was her order, a large pile of uncooked pork and chicken.

I blinked slowly. "It is uncooked?"

She grinned. "That's what the metal and fire are for, you cook it yourself! That's all the fun!" She laughed and set a piece on the grill, and frowned when it was too cold to cook quickly.

I heated up the coals to the temperature for cooking meat quickly with a thought. "I see... yes, that does seem interesting. The last time I cooked my own food, Lee-Kahn and I were on Mount Fuji, the home of the gods."

He snorted behind my back, and motioned bad food.

"Shut your mouth, Lee-Kahn, I was ten and I'd never cooked before." I growled while she laughed.

The other guards joined in hesitantly, and I grumbled, turning the meat over. It was finished, so I held it out to her on the end of the chopsticks. "First tasting?"

She nodded and reached for it, only for one of the guards to gently take it, and rip a piece off, testing it for poison. He bowed, and she sighed. "Let's get cooking, then!"

The meat was evenly spaced around the grill, requiring a bit of my attention, but I decided to strike up an conversation with her for the sake of better relations. "So you come to this place often, you said? The owner seemed to know you?"

She nodded. "I helped the owner rebuild this place, three years ago. A Salamander came from the ocean and destroyed it, and after we killed the beast, I noticed the path of its destruction, and commandeered a few legions, setting to the task of rebuilding."

I blinked slowly. "A salamander managed to break your buildings? They looked more sturdy..." I hummed, looking at the roof.

She snorted softly. "I see you underestimate a Salamander."

"No... I've seen and killed one or two... but the waterfront buildings in Japan, because of our tsunami's and monsoons, are much more sturdy than any building but the palace itself... I suppose it's different here, you don't get tsunami's, because we're the breakwater." I nodded slowly.

She blinked. "You have buildings that withstand a Tsunami?"

"We've had to devise certain advanced building methods, not unlike our superior Steel, compared to most of Asia." I shrugged.

"Interesting. I look forward to seeing them, when I go with you to your Country." She nodded, and ate a piece of the beef, drinking some of her wine.

I nodded. "That will be... interesting, yes."

"Now can I ask about Lord Sora's abilities? He managed to calm an entire Harbor for almost four hours, and that is a feat I didn't think possible." She asked, and gazed at me seriously.

"Well... amongst Dragons, Sora is special. He and his mother are of the oldest and most proliferous Imperial lines of all time, and also the most gifted in the arts of Draconic Magi." I explained as sparsely as I could, aware of the peasants listening from other tables.

She looked at them, then me. "Do not worry. No loyal subject of mine would dare harm your dragon, even by spreading a rumor."

"Hmph. Well, Draconic Magi, Dragon Magic, is very difficult to explain, seeing as I don't know it's limits. Sora has told me that he lives off of the energy of the Sun and Storm, both Peace and War, and that he uses that energy to fly, cast curses or blessings, and, of course, his Divine Breath, and Divine Voice. I've only seen him use his voice once, today, and that was because he was showing off."

She nodded slowly. "I see... and the little dragons don't have all of these abilities?"

"Not the Voice, I don't think... or maybe they do, and they've never had cause to use it? I honestly don't know." I started eating, as my meat was finished, and she thought carefully as she ate.

I blinked. "You have a very beautiful, yet intimidating face when you're thinking. Not unlike my mother, Lady Kumo."

She blinked, surprised, then frowned. "Don't flatter me. I despise the practice."

"Do you think yourself not beautiful?"

"I haven't ever considered myself beautiful, I am not so vain." She shook her head.

"Ah, vanity. Hmph. Well, I am not a liar. If I thought you ugly, I would tell you, though it would be less obvious." I promised.

She laughed loudly. "Such an odd promise to make to a woman, especially your future wife, to tell her if you find her unattractive!"

The other guards snorted, laughing amongst themselves.

"Indeed, nevertheless, I am quite sincere-"

"FOR THE GREAT JADE EMPEROR!!!" A warcry surprised me, and I darted out of my seat, listening closely.

"A battle, at my ship..." I bowed and started jogging towards the battle sounds carefully.

Lee-Kahn grabbed my shoulder and the Princess's, ignoring the hissed warnings from the other guards, and threw us to the ground, dodging a ball of fire from a mage who'd been hidden.

My sword embedded itself in his throat, and I calmly cleaned it as Lee-Kahn apologized to the Princess.

The ship was under attack from four large Demon-Wolves, the Ultimate Species of the North-Western Demons, and a collection of smaller demons, and two more mages.

"Lee-Kahn! The Wolves! Guards! I'll assist with the mages and smaller demons!" I snapped, and darted towards the group.

The sailors saw me, and roared a welcome, making it a rallying cry of epic proportions. "WE OF THE STRIDER GREET CROWN PRINCE KUMO!!!"

I grinned and ducked another fireball, and killed one of the mages with a touch to the chest, my hand filled with lightning.

The second threw up a ward, abandoning his attacks on the ship, and I crashed through it rudely. "Pathetic." I hissed, and ended him with a flick of my sword.

I froze suddenly, feeling the weight of one of the Wolves' gaze.

Then I laughed, and the entire Crew of Sailors took it up, laughing like fiends. "YOU CALL THAT AN ATTACK!?!?" They taunted the wolves, and I growled at the tallest, who was only watching.

Lee-Kahn rushed him from the left, so I darted in from the right, and then simply halted.

His claws passed me, and my sword cut off his hand with a grating sound, as his fur, as tough as any chainmail, even mine, (which I realized I was not wearing,) scraped the white blade.

He snarled, and Lee-Kahn slid past him, taking a foot for himself.

I dove in while he was distracted, and plunged my sword through his heart, then pulled it out, and spun, building momentum, using it to sever his head, though it dulled my blade a little.

The other three stopped, gazing at the body, then me, and I roared at them, challenging them to attack me where their commander had failed.

They took the challenge, darting at me, but before one could reach me, a giant metal ball slammed through his heart, and into the stone pier, followed by a thunderous 'Crack'.

The cannon had made its appearance, finally, and little Lee-Ting was at the seat behind it, aiming for the next wolf already.

I dodged the first one by flipping over him, and when he looked up at me, my short sword buried itself in his brain, through his eye.

I leapt off his falling form, and turned, readying myself to take the last wolf across the chest.

He yelped, instead, as Tiān-Kōng neutered him suddenly, and then slit his hamstrings and shoulder muscles with a swift set of well-rehearsed strikes that ruined her sword irrevocably.

I smirked when she gazed at my sword, relatively unharmed, and she snorted. "Brat... take this one to the holding cells. Clean up all these dead ones, identify the mages, notify their families, and skin these Hounds. The Prince Kumo has earned his Hide Armor, it would seem." She bowed her head respectfully.

"Hide armor?" I asked.

"You don't take their hides?" She asked, gesturing at the giant, anthropomorphic wolves.

"Ahh, no. We usually get Sea-Demons or Fire Demons from the volcanoes." I shrugged.

She nodded. "I see. Well, we keep the Pelts of the defeated Wolves, as they make for good armor, and marks of status as Demon-Slayer's."

"Ah. Interesting custom... Captain, any dead?" I called at the ship.

He groaned in response, and I approached, kneeling beside him, in the ring of Sailors. His chest was lacerated by the wolves claws. I could see both his heart and lungs, untouched, but the blood around him was more than enough to kill a man.

I sighed. "Do you want to die slowly, or swiftly?"

He spat to one side. "I'm fine. Flesh wound." He growled, trying to sit up, and failing.

I blinked. "That you're able to speak is rather amazing... alright, I'll heal you as best I can." I reached in my pocket for a needle and some surgical silk, and began to slowly, carefully sew his muscles and skin together again, after returning his left ribcage, (recovered from the water by a cringing sailor,) to its rightful place, and binding it to his sternum.

Once I was finished, I looked at the others. "Feed him as much liquid food as you can. Fruits, Vegetables, Beans, anything like that. He should be fine in a few months, if all is well inside him. I'll need to remove the stitches from his ribs and pectorals in a week, bring him to me then. Stay in the harbor." I commanded, standing straight.

They bowed. "Thank you, Prince Kumo!"

"Hmph. Lee-Ting, come along, dear. And you as well. These men have some serious repairs to do." I waved at the second weather-mage, whom I hadn't met personally yet.

The woman cleared her throat. "I will stay with my husband, Prince, if that is alright with you." She said quietly.

"Oh... I'd no idea he was married. My apologies, yes, stay with your husband. He will need you." I bowed my head, and picked up Lee-Ting, setting her on my shoulder.

She grinned. "Did you see my shot with the cannon!!!???"

"I did, it was well-struck. I believe that Armor is yours, not mine." I nodded seriously.

She beamed at Lee-Kahn, who laughed and shook his head. He signed to me, 'Crazy' 'Child' 'Mage'.

"Indeed." I laughed, and then smiled at the Princess. "Princess Tiān-Kōng, meet my Apprentice Lee-Ting, a Storm-Born Weather Mage."

She bowed, surprisingly. "It is an honor, little warrior-mage."

Lee-Ting did her best to bow back, on my shoulder. "The honor is mine, Princess."

Tiān-Kōng held out a hand, and I gently set Lee-Ting down. She gripped the princess's hand, and they started walking towards the place we'd been eating at.

I groaned at the sight of the burnt meat, and scrapped it all with a grumble of disappointment.

The owner followed as the server came with another platter, and she stepped forward, bowing deeply, then smiled at Lee-Ting. "Would you like anything else, Little Miss?"

She blushed at the attention, and hid behind me. She peeked out, and shook her head.

The owner smiled, her wizened face warming. "Alright, then, Little Miss, please tell me if that changes. I've got some sweet dumplings cooking in the back for my grandson, and I'd be happy to steal you a few!" She winked, and waddled away.

I laughed softly. "Already making Friends, Ting?"

She blushed again and sat down slowly, gazing at the meat I was cooking.

"Yes, it's for all of us. Don't worry. And I think you'll like those dumplings." I nodded.

She shook her head. "I don't like sweet things... but I don't get to eat Meat often... can I have that piece?" She pointed at a fatty, juicy piece of chicken.

I smiled. "As you wish, little one." I handed her the chop-sticks, and she hummed, handing them back, then stabbing the meat with a knife she pulled from her boots without any hesitation.

She chewed on the meat like a savage, and I laughed, unable to contain it any longer.

At her confused face, the Princess whispered in her ear. "Your manners are slipping, and it's adorable."

Ting blushed wildly. "Sorry..." she mumbled, chewing morosely.

"Oh don't worry your heart over it, it's just dinner in a meat-house, though a nice one." I shrugged, and offered her some sweet-water and another piece of meat, this one pork.

She hummed, and nibbled on it, then blinked, and ripped half of it off and swallowed it in seconds.

"Chew, child. We don't want you to choke. No one will take the food from you." I smiled and flipped a few more pieces, then blinked when one of the sailors came in, holding a brace of giant fish.

He held it up to the owner. "Can ye carve dis, Madame?" He asked in passable Chinese.

She nodded, and took them into the kitchen. A few moments later, a server returned with a platter, heaping with fish, lightly salted and ready to cook, and she returned to her post, watching the room like a wrinkled hawk.

He sat next to me, and offered me the meat. "The men and I caught these for you, Prince Kumo!" He grinned.

I smiled. "I thank you, but that's far too much for me to eat... ah! Bring the men in, repairs can wait, no? We'll eat and drink to toast our victory in this battle!"

He laughed and set the platter down carefully, then ran outside. He returned with a Hoard of Sailors, who all paid the owner with a collective pile of copper coins I barely recognized from my economic courses.

She blinked, and then bowed deeply, gesturing at the room, indicating they could eat wherever they liked, and barked into the back room loudly.

I laughed and started cooking the fish, as the men crowded around for their share. Lee-Ting grinned at the sight of the cooked fish. "Now that's a piece of meat!" She snatched it and chomped on the succulent meat while most everyone complained about her eating first.

I cooked a large portion, and set it on a covered plate the cook brought me. "Someone will take this to the captain's wife." I said simply.

One of the men took it carefully, and walked out towards the ship, while we returned to eating.