Kindling

Madara frowned at his brother darkly, the Call a faint whisper in his mind that was easily ignored in favor of making Izuna fucking leave; he loved his brother but gods of fire did he want Izuna to get out of his hair, there was a reason (well several reasons) that Madara had left his old land to find new territory and it included getting away from his fucking clan and over baring brother. “Madara, you’re a Daiyokai, you have to take the time to meet the lords, especially if you have new lands and you know as soon as you do they’re going to ask about mates again and-“ “NO” Madara snapped sharply, cutting his brother off before the old argument could start “no, Izuna, I don’t care. At this point I have more than enough power to tell the other lords to fuck off as I have for the last years, and no. I am not going to take a mate just for them, nor am I taking one to deal with the Call, it has never pulled strongly at me-“ Izuna’s mouth opened, about to refuse to leave and let Madara be alone during the Call “-and I have weathered them alone before, so yes, you can fuck off” Madara snarled and Izuna looked away with his arms folded huffily.

The Uchiha sighed and passed a hand over his wild hair, “Izuna” he said tiredly; “You ever looked into the curse lands to the east?” his brother asked, ignoring Madara’s words and making the kirin’s lips pull back even as he responded “Not yet no, there is something there but it never hurts anyone if you stay away from the markers” he said, forcing his voice to be even. Izuna’s lips pursed “You took up territory near cursed land and never checked on what was in it?” he asked in an unimpressed voice “you do realize that it would be dangerous?” Madara just looked at him, unimpressed, there was no reason to go bother something that had never bothered hm “Fine, but I know I saw traces of something lingering near your border over there” Madara locked his jaw to keep from reacting to Izuna’s words, holding his brother’s eyes; he had been aware for a while now that there was something or someone watching his border there, had even felt a faint lingering brush of something across his senses when he was sitting in his home

After a long time Izuna sighed and looked away, ducking his head to show Madara his neck a bit as he conceded the argument; Madara softened a little at the show of submission, it wasn’t like Izuna didn’t have a bit of a point after all, he probably should look into his lurker. “It’s fine Izu, I’ll look into it if that would make you feel better. You just…there was a reason I left and you pushing doesn’t make that go away, I quite like my new territory after all” the younger yokai ducked his head farther and nodded, only a little sulky in his defense. Madara ruffled his hair and sent his brother on his way, trying to ignore the lingering awkwardness and strain between them, Izuna had spent far to much time with their mother and he was never going to understand why Madara refused to take a mate based on power or convenience (as their parents had) or just find someone to spend the Call with; Madara had never wanted that, had never wanted the sort of empty space that their mother and father had and no matter how much easier it would be if he was willing to do that he refused. Izuna probably thought that it had to do with Hashirama and while he wasn’t wrong necessarily  it had far less to do with his once friend than Izuna or the others thought; truth was Madara needed to get away, it wasn’t in his nature to stay where there wasn’t a great person to stay with. And no matter what Hashirama thought he wasn’t the sort of person that could keep a Kirin

Kirin were said to usher in new ages, said to be the companion of kings and leaders that showed the way into a new era (of course they were also said to be benevolent and never eat meat so, you know, the legends weren’t always right), and maybe they were, Madara had never met another of his kind in all his long years and really shouldn’t have even been born given that none of the rest of his family was Kirin; but that was the way of his kind, come out of nowhere and vanish the same way – they certainly didn’t reproduce yokai of their own kind anyway. But Hashirama…Hashirama had been convinced that he was the leader Madara was supposed to accompany and no amount of Madara trying to tell him that 1. He wasn’t and 2. It didn’t work like that. The Kirin was never some sort of companion/servant/consort hybrid but a full onlead as much as their ‘king’ was; Hashirama hadn’t wanted to hear it, had been so attached to the idea that he was going to make peace between the yokai and humanity- never mind that they were essentially at peace now, no Hashirama wanted integration and wouldn’t listen to arguments against it from anyone- with Madara as the herald of his divine right to lead that by the time Madara left the yokai that had once been his friend was long gone in the mess that was Hashirama’s ideals.

So Madara had walked away. Oh he was strong enough to send Hashirama packing- they might both be Daiyokai but no Komainu could beat a Kirin, not even one that was closer to being a Kodama; no Madara was Hashirama’s equal and probably his better, especially  if he found his king- if it had come to a fight, luckily it hadn’t, Madara didn’t want to fight Hashirama, just get his point across and escape his family and the wanting eyes that followed him; did they really think he would take a mate without first finding his king? Idiots. (the king of a Kirin wasn’t a literal king the way stories made it seem though it frequently fell out that way, the king was someone the Kirin could devote themselves to, someone that could ground them and tether them and keep them focused and present. Madara knew he would find his king eventually and didn’t really worry about it, it meant he had never felt the call all that strongly and didn’t feel any need for a mate until he knew what his relationship would be with his king (another reason he didn’t want Hashirama, he knew himself well enough to know he would want his king in his bed and no others, he was possessive like that, and he most certainly didn’t want Hashirama in his bed, he knew that after a few ill-advised nights together in the past) so Izuna’s worries were really unneeded and unwanted.

Madara dragged a hand through his hair, massaging the base of his horns where they swept back out of his hair; if it would make Izuna feel better he could stir himself out of his home and go take a peak at his border to see what was there, after all he had been living here for over five years now, he really ought to go take a look. Mind made up he stretched and went to change into something better suited to the outdoors, the swooping halls of his home where it had been cut into the rock high on the cliffs allowing air and light to flow freely though out in a rush that Madara had never gotten tired of (how Izuna missed the fact that Madara also actually just liked his new home better Madara had no idea). The journey to his border was easy even with the size of his territory and as he got closer to the edge something in Madara shifted almost pulling him up short (had he never been over here since he established the boundary?), there was something…something different over here. Tipping his head back he scented the air blinking surprises as the faint scent of another yokai- though not of a kind Madara could place- hit him; it was like, like storms and ink and mint with a faint hint of lilac, like wild power barely held in check and refined intelligence and refreshing curiosity all bundled up at once and Madara hardly noticed his eyes slip closed as he got closer and tired to catch more of the scent.

It was only when the sharp iron tang of blood hit him that Madara was startled out of his daze back into the present, something twisting in his stomach; what in the world was hanging around his border and why was it hurt? Madara had felt the presence before faintly and had never given it much thought given that it never felt ill intentioned, just remote and a bit sad, now he rather wished he had in light of this. With a frown the Kirin jumped into the trees and over his border, shooting a glance at the small curse marker as he slipped over into the markedly different woods. The blood was on a tree just out of his territory as if something had settled there for a bit and just waited on the edge, why-? The blood was only a little and speckled on the tree like someone had wiped at a minor wound before leaving and there was also odd tears in the bark, whatever he was chasing had claws. Strangely elated Madara glanced farther into the darker woods, dragging in another scented mouthful of air; the presence Madara had felt had seemed lonely sometimes and Madara was curious how they had hidden themselves so well that there was nothing more than a rumor of a ghost, something Madara had assumed to be true until now – ghosts don’t bleed.

Mind made up Madara set off into the trees though he had to slow his movements almost immediately when he was almost ensnared in a complicated seal forged vision, a impressive vision like Madara hadn’t seen outside of the capital and Uzumaki seal masters, so how had it gotten here in the middle of nowhere? Even more intrigued now Madara set off again at a slower rate, which was good given the sheer number of traps and mazes and seal nets that filled the trees; this at least explained how the person living here had avoided detection and outsiders, these woods were simply too dangerous and had Madara be even a jot less powerful and careful he would have been ensnared as well. As it was even he was caught in some of the more devious tricks, things like the ways that power was sunk into the trees here, power and pain that filled the shadows with tricks and the spaces between trees with illusions; indeed Madara ended up going in circles a few times as the whispers in the air tried to pull him away from the center and his goal – the trees here wanted to protect whoever their steward was. (Madara couldn’t help but thing that this was what the Senju were supposed to be doing except done better than he had ever seen them do, Hashirama certainly had never done the long time consuming hours of work that were needed to protect a place like this and was the first step towards showing the very air of the forest that you would protect it, the first step towards earning it’s loyalty.)

Eventually though the trees reluctantly released him into a tumble of nasty looking rocks and yet another set of tricks and traps (count Madara impressed, seriously impressed) that pulled him into dead ends and looping shoots until- at last- he caught another whiff of the scent he had come here for; the yokai he was chasing was holed up here, deep in the most protected place they could find and make and Madara wanted to know who could and would go to so much work over so long a time and then not come out to find Madara – because there was no way that there hadn’t been alarms in those traps so they had to know he was coming. The ledge he hopped onto was redolent with scent and feel of the presence and his heart rate ticked up as he dropped down into the den; it was small and rough but there was clear traces of refinement here and there in the shape of the desk and the neat stack of paper, whoever this yokai was they were smart and come from a position of better means than they now lived with. The second and third room provided interest but no yokai and Madara turned with some confusion to the curtained off fourth opening, one that was so low Madara had assumed it couldn’t lead to anything useful; the closer he got the more the sharp scent of active and burning seals scorched at Madara and when he pushed the curtain aside seals buzzed under his fingers when he edged inside, why couldn’t they have –

What?

There was, there was a seal array in the center of the small space that was glowing with a dull ember bright light and tucked in the center curled into a small shape was what must have been the yokai he was looking for, the yokai that had sealed themselves in this array with it’s burning painful buzz. They must have done it to themselves given the set up and how recent the blood was, it hadn’t been more than a day old and the room with the seal array spoke of planning, as if this was an old procedure that this yokai was familiar with, which was just – made Madara sick to consider given that he could all but feel the pain and old hurt (and so, so, so much loneliness, so much that it became a constant agony on the senses) filling the room and see that these weren’t kind seals.

Carefully Madara inched closer, not wanting to touch the seal lines but trying to get a better look at the yokai in the dim flickering light but only able to see the shape of a slim mostly human shaped person and the tip of a long white and gray tail. “Hello?” he called softly, uncertain that they were aware enough to hear him; he had to call several more times before the yokai shifted and the tail flicked sluggishly, “hey, you can hear me right?” he asked and the tail flicked over the dirt again as the shape shifted and then light caught on red eyes barely slit open, sending blood thundering through Madara’s veins. “Hey,” he crooned “can I come closer?” there was a long pause and Madara was starting to wonder if they had ever heard him past the haze he could see in red eyes, “You don’t want to” a rasping thready voice said and Madara bit down on the urge to lunge to their side anyway. “Why don’t I want to?” he asked as gently as he could, trying to get a good enough look at the seals to see what he could walk on a what he had to stay away from “…no one wants to…” the answer to his question was even thinner than before and Madara felt himself go still, looking at the seals with new eyes; yes, he could se it now, the way it was set up to be a containment net before anything, for some reason this yokai had locked themselves in a seal net in a tiny cave smelling of pain and – wait. Loneliness. Loneliness.

“Is this because of the Call?” he asked, trying to keep his voice even and calm; the yokai didn’t respond but the uneasy shifting of the tail was dead giveaway, for some reason when the Call started this yokai locked themselves in here and hid, but only after prowling his border for a while. “I’m Madara Uchiha” he said quietly and the other yokai shifted “The Daiyokai” Madara grimaced, he hated being identified with that even though there was nothing sycophantic or wanting in the thin voice. “I like to think I am more than that” he said and then cursed at himself when the yokai shifted back from him at the harsh words, “I didn’t – but you are a Daiyokai, you tend the land and your vassals and have power to watch over those you claim, you are a Daiyokai” by the end of the sentence the other yokai’s word were wavering and exhausted and Madara blinked, brought up short by the definition of Daiyokai that he hadn’t heard for a very long time. That it was more than a power level others would want, that to be Daiyokai was to tend that which you had power over, that to be a lord amongst his kind was to be a protector; somehow he had started to forget that in the messy clawing for power of the courts.

“Yes” he murmured “I suppose I am” silence fell and he could hear faint panting now as he looked around at the deep cut seals; this was not the first time the yokai had done this, nothing here was fresh so – how long had this yokai bound themselves in this net every Call, surely not every time right? Surely not, not when Madara could already tell that it must not be a comfortable experience, to do it every few months for years was just…surely not. “Can I come closer?” he asked again, forcing his voice back to gentle and coaxing, the other yokai didn’t respond and Madara grew restless; this couldn’t be good, not when the fluffy tail was limp and there was no sound but the panting, even the red eyes were gone now. Frustration growing Madara took a deep breath and made a decision he hoped he didn’t regret, shifting until he could crawl over the seal to the other yokai and grimacing when his horns brushed the ceiling. The yokai shifted restlessly when Madara got closer and he saw a flash of white leg before it was tucked back as he drew closer “I’m going to touch you, I need to see if you’re ok” he murmured as gently as he could; the yokai shivered “You don’t want to” they murmured again and Madara hesitated but didn’t know what to do so he reached out and pressed his fingers to the shadowed neck, wincing at the cold skin and fluttering pulse.

 “I need to get you out of this” he whispered, nerves twisting in worry (why was he so worried about someone he hadn’t even properly met?) and the pale yokai drew back farther shifting light showing the shape of narrow hips and long pale legs twisted in a dirt and blood stained robe “You shouldn’t” (that wasn’t actually a no) they whispered waveringly and Madara shifted closer, reaching out to run fingers through light colored hair, “Why not pretty eyes?” he crooned and the yokai shuddered, trying to press closer before realizing what they were doing and recoiling “The Call – you shouldn’t – “ Madara’s gut twisted harder, the seals did have something to do with that then. “What about it?” he coaxed and a tight sound far too close to a sob slipped out of the other yokai, “It’s so strong” they whimpered and Madara forced himself not to snarl; he knew very well that other species felt the Call more keenly and if he was right this yokai probably felt it very strongly indeed – a snow leopard tail was fairly distinctive and most yokai like that needed company. He didn’t know why this yokai had done this or how long they had been doing it for but Madara was not going to put up with it, not when his gut said that they weren’t a bad person- quite the opposite really- and a Kirin’s instincts weren’t to be doubted. (Even so, this yokai was his)

Madara hummed softly and shifted closer, curling his fingers to scratch gently at the back of the pale head; “I don’t mind spending the Call with you” he murmured softly. The other yokai shivered and pushed closer, seeming just too tired to pull away anymore even though Madara was sure they hadn’t changed their opinion about this yet “I can’t” they gasped “I can’t have you say that and change your mind as soon as you see me, I just can’t do this again” their voice dropped off into a faint whimper and Madara’s hands tensed in white hair; what the hell did he do now?