Chapter 34: Aftermath and Choice
Kurama sat amongst the trees trying to comprehend what had just happened. The man-cub that she had tried to ambush had revealed terrifying strength while it treated her with a gentleness that she was unaccustomed to, nor felt herself worthy of. It then produced delicious meat from thin air and coaxed her into eating. It asked about her; seemingly taking a genuine interest in her life since their last encounter. It was filled with wrath when it discovered that her ex-master had mistreated her. Shortly after, it then inconceivably erased the cursed mark that had tied her to her abusive master for so long and left to seek vengeance on her behalf. Just what sort of human was this? Kurama's only interactions with humans before this had been of cruelty or borderline hostile disinterest. She really didn't know what to think.
The man-cub had presented her with a choice: Leave and live on her own, freely, or wait for it to return and travel with it. Currently, Kurama was conflicted. The man-cub was strange... In comparison to any other human she had interacted with, this man-cub seemed like it was of a different breed. Kurama did not understand the concept of compassion. She had never undergone the experience of being empathised with. She was instinctively inclined to view any creature as small and unassuming as the man-cub as food. This was unexplored territory and it was scary. What if the man-cub also developed a sadistic tendency to hurt her?? Staying with him was not an option. To her, humans were innately deceitful.
What, then, was the third option? Living alone and hunting like she had in her youth was certainly appealing. However, the curiosity that she currently felt for the man-cub was difficult to suppress. It had returned her freedom but freedom was her's from the beginning, it had just been stripped away... Did she owe the man-cub something for restoring what was rightfully hers? This... Maybe she did? It gave her meat, it spent effort to free her from her bondage. Was there an ulterior motive though?? Hard to tell... It was best to observe. To see how the man-cub interacted with other beings. if it was cruel to others then it was likely that this was an elaborate plot to trick her. It seemed like the third option was to watch. She would follow the man-cub for a while and see how it acted. Honeyed words mean nothing. They are simply controlled wind. Actions are the only thing that matter. Only through observing action can one being truly know another.
Thinking so, Kurama rose to her feet and moved in the direction of her ex-master's temporary den. She followed the scent of the man-cub until it abruptly disappeared. Where had the man-cub gone? To Kurama, it seemed as if it had simply vanished without a trace. She knew that the man-cub had indicated that it was going to the (ex)master's den. Since the scent trail had vanished, Kurama's only option was to go to the den to see if the man-cub had followed through on its intent.
She watched from the edge of the trees as the wind parted the entrance of the (ex)master's dwelling. There was no sound. No impact, no screaming, no tearing... Nothing. Liar!! She was a fool for ever even considering that a human would avenge the wrongs done to her. Still, everything about the man-cub indicated that it was preparing for combat. The musk of fear/arousal permeated the scent trail until it had vanished.
Kurama didn't know why she stayed but she watched. Was this some sort of 'hope'? A desire to believe that humans weren't as shitty as she had always known them to be? This was irrational foolishness! Kurama should know better! But... This human was so different that maybe, just maybe, she could hope for a different result than expected?
Kurama sank into thought as she vacantly gazed in the direction of the den. She was slowly observing the thin thread of her hope dissolving as the moments passed. Then... Blood... The strong, unmistakable, scent of blood slowly pervaded her surroundings and, to her, it seemed like a fresh morning breeze. The man-cub must have done something!
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Ma Sa stood in the forest behind Kurama, observing her response to his vengeful infiltration. He knew that she wouldn't have simply waited for him where he left her. She was far too wary of humans for that. A surge of anger once again made an appearance in his soul as his eyes were drawn to Kurama's missing tails.
He remained hidden as Kurama continued to watch the goings on at the, now alert, Bu clan encampment. The scent of blood had spread throughout the camp in a very short time, prompting the alarming howls of many other tamed beasts. It appeared that the Bu clan specialized in beast taming. Ma Sa had the fleeting query as to why Kurama's ex-master was relegated to the outskirts of the camp. It quickly passed, leaving him with a shiver down his spine, as he remembered the tamer's slime covered body snuggled up next to the seven-colored horned snail... Yup, Ma Sa wouldn't want to camp in the same place as that guy either...
The Bu clan, to their credit, were extremely swift in their response to the alarm. Within moments they had rushed into the tent of Ma Sa's victim, grabbed the heavily bloodied, slimy cripple, and had carried him into the main encampment for treatment. It seemed odd to Ma Sa that they didn't send any warriors out to search for the assailant's trail. He was unaware that the Bu clan warriors that had discovered Bu Lei in his current state had decided that the assailant was far beyond their capabilities to deal with - That snail fucker must have really pissed off the wrong Senior! They were merely glad that the senior hadn't decided to kill everyone in the encampment to alleviate their stress!
Ma Sa was glad, as it was evident by the fuss that his target hadn't died yet. Ma Sa hoped that he would live a looonnngg life... He deserved it!
While Kurama was watching the ongoing furor, Ma Sa sank into his own thoughts. He hadn't really enjoyed what he had just done nearly as much as he had anticipated. In fact, it had actually made him feel like a little bit of the tamer's filth had rubbed off on him. Ma Sa came to the Qian continent, though he didn't really know it at the time, in search of blood boiling battles and chivalrous combat. What he had done was simply a vengeful assault. Worse still, it was a vengeful assault on behalf of a beast, who were not recognised as 'people'.
Ma Sa knew that Kurama was sentient. He could tell from conversing with her, even though she couldn't talk back in the common tongue. He recognised that Kurama had the potential to learn and act upon the intricacies of property and, in his book, that made her an existence on par with a human child. She was certainly different to the dogs or cows from his life on Earth. A dog knew what belonged to it but couldn't differentiate between its own property and that of others. Thousands of chewed up shoes could attest to that!
Kurama was a worthy cause for his retribution but that didn't change the fact that it made him feel icky. Ma Sa truly held the ideal that Justice should be tempered by Mercy in the instances where it was appropriate. Mercy was not appropriate here. Only swift and sharp, blade-like, Justice could fill the void in Kurama's heart and also prevent the tamer from ever committing the same, reprehensible, acts of violence again. Sadly, the delivery of Justice never came with assurance. To become a sword of Justice was also to bear a heavy burden of uncertainty. That uncertainty should never be stifled, only ever used to motivate extreme conscientiousness when the time came to pass judgement. The line between Justice and Injustice was incredibly fine yet also extremely distinct.
With a tough lesson digesting in the pit of his stomach, Ma Sa decided to flit away into the forest as the commotion in the camp died down. He returned to where he had earlier separated from Kurama and sat down to cultivate a little. He trusted his instinct that she would return. He strangely looked forward to teaching her about logic, negotiation, trade, and property. For a being born of the chaotic Jianghu to learn of the principles of Order was an exciting prospect. Ma Sa felt anticipatory towards the moment as if he were a being trying to spread enlightenment.
He once again entered dangerous territories of thought as he imagined being able to mold the thoughts of others to match his own. What an intoxicating notion... Also something that would make the world around him boring as hell! No... No matter how dumb he thought a viewpoint was, it was imperative that it continued to exist as only that could bring healthy stimulus of cognition. As long as he compared any and all viewpoints to what little he could perceive of the Truth, and made sure to adjust his world-view to new information, he figured he wouldn't go too far wrong.
On Earth, he had taken quite a lot of abuse for that philosophy. He was labeled as 'Anti-vax' by staunch supporters of vaccination as well as a 'Big Pharma shill' by those on the other side. Some others said his butt must be sore from all the fence sitting he did... All he ever advocated for was for people sacrificing a bit of their time to do their own research since it was their body, or their children's, that the vaccine was going into. Not all medication was equal. As far as he was concerned, the disaster that was Thalidomide should be enough to make anyone skeptical of simply believing marketing touted as scientific evidence without further thought. What had happened to personal responsibility?? Taking in information and comparing it to real world, tangible phenomena in an orderly manner was the core of the scientific method as far as Dave was concerned. When did dogma become a part of science? Leave that stuff to religion!
Ma Sa's mind wandered to the religions of the Qian continent after the allure of becoming a cult leader wore off. The Qian continent had a couple of religions that were somewhat in line with those of Earth. There were two which claimed to be based on historical records of the creation of the Universe and one which focused mainly on self improvement and the journey towards enlightenment. The last one was favoured by martial artists while the former two were favoured by mortals.
One thing that religion undoubtedly provided was stability. It melded extremely well with the ordered society of the Settlements and it gave hope in the Chaos of the Jianghu. Ma Sa was aware that the word 'Religion' itself originated from the Latin 'Re- Ligare' - 'to tie back by binding' and, when employed in a healthy manner, bound believers to a source of hope and conviction that was otherwise hard to come by. However, when employed in an unhealthy way it led to zealotry and mental slavery. Overall, religion was a force of Order and could be highly beneficial to certain people. Unfortunately, in the depths of rampant Order, as hinted at in the Yin Yang symbol, there was always a seed of Chaos. The inverse was also true. In order to understand the entirety of the Chaos that was the Jianghu, Ma Sa would need to find the underlying order within it.
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A short while later, Kurama's skeletal frame emerged from the bushes at the spot where she and the man-cub had parted ways earlier. She had spent a long time appreciating the aftermath of the man-cub's incursion of the camp. Where was it though?? It had definitely told her that it would return to this place after it had completed its vengeance. Had it already returned and then left since she wasn't there?!
Kurama hadn't really noticed her building expectations of traveling with the man-cub until now. Sadly her growing expectations were dashed before they ever had a chance to truly blossom. She couldn't help but hang her head as she sniffed the air for traces of the man-cub's direction.
*pat*
"Hey Kurama! Glad you came back!"
Kurama scurried for the bushes as if her life depended on it. What was going on? This was too much to process. There was no man-cub and then, suddenly, there was? Impossible!
Ma Sa had watched Kurama since she had gingerly entered his range of detection. He thought deeply about how to interact with her from now on. He was cloaked by his cultivation currently so she had no idea that he was even nearby. Suddenly, he felt the urge to tease the fox a little bit. He did love her confused expression after all and thought it might be a healthier start to their future partnership than something based on pity. She should be a proud huntress of the forest. Pitying her would only demean her.
Ma Sa paused for a moment, admiring Kurama's 'WTF?!' look, before continuing:
"Ready to go? I still have steak~?"
Kurama looked away from the hateful man-cub in an aloof manner before turning her eye back to him. Hmmph! This thing dared to tease her?! Well... Alright... Maybe just this once...
Two months later, a young boy and a majestic fox beast would decimate an unexpected Ginyan Beastwave without assistance.
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