I tutted around his wounds, feeling his entire body clench, "I'm so sorry." I whispered. "It's going to hurt." I took the sake I brought out and placed it on the cloth. "Breathe in for me." He did so and exhaled sharply when the alcohol touched it. "I know! I know, shh, shh, it's alright." Leaning forward, I blew on the wound, trying to relieve the stinging before placing ointment on it. This went on till I was sure the superficial ones were done. "I am afraid this is all I can do for the moment. Come." Without thinking, I took his forearms and tugged him up. "Let us go."

And so, they followed- to not do so would mean the collar around their throats would choke them till they obeyed or died. Even an immortal had to breathe after all.

Once outside the city, I waited till we were in front of the shrine. Turning, I glanced at them. "This may startle you." The girl's brows furrowed, but the stone-faced Sentinal merely regarded me with blatant curiosity. And with a whoosh of power, my ears and tail were present, Moto's as well. The girls squeaked in shock. The Sentinal, although attempting to not show it, had the faintest hint of surprise and distrust deepened within his furrowed frown.

"Come." I held my hand out to the Sentinal. "Moto take the girl's hands."

He had remained silent the entire time, fuming with rage it appeared. Now, it flowed off of him with his twitching tails. "Come, little flowers." He soothed and took each hand while I took his robe in my free one. The Sentinal had attempted to deny my hand, but a sharp look and a raised brow caused him to give in. Better that than an order, it seemed.

Calloused, working hands. How much labor had they made these poor people do?

With that, we went through the Torii; the gasps and awe of the girls almost made me laugh. The Sentinal did not seem phased so much as intrigued. He cast his eyes around as if looking for a shadow or an attacker, ever on the lookout. Survival at it's finest.

Finally, we made it to the other side and stood before the Inari Shrine of my own.

"Welcome to my Shrine, where you shall be living for the time being," I said, walking forward, keeping a grip upon the Sentinal. Now, he seemed dazed obviously from loss of blood and lack of food and water; his cracked lips and glazed eyes were miserable to look at.

Moto and I ushered them into the entryway, where I instructed them to take off their shoes. "Come," I said like a Nursemaid and pushed gently at the Sentinals back. The girls all too easily followed though nervous. The Sentinal, of course, looking disgruntled. I exhaled and felt my cheeks redden at the task I had to handle. "Girls," I said, glancing at them. "Follow me, you," I said to the man. "Sit there and do not move." He glared but did so. Guiding the girls to the washing area, I was glad for the natural hot springs that were an obvious gift from the mountain. "Please sit there and use these," I handed them bars of primitive soap, of which I would have to remedy later on. "Clean yourselves and soak after rinsing."

They looked puzzled. But shrugged at each other and seem to look forward to being clean did as instructed. I helped the two girls scrub their hair, rewarded with pleasing sighs of bliss. Once done, I ordered them to soak, but not for too long, and that I would send Moto to check on them and set up a screen provided in the hot spring area where they could be hidden when he came in.

Coming back out, I glanced at the Sentinal. "You. Come." I wasn't even sure if we spoke the same language, as he had yet to talk to me. But Moto had said that I would be able to converse with magic the way I did to him. Sentinals supposedly had the same kind of power amount a young Kitsune, some as much as Elder Kitsune. [[So, I am sorry, but I need to make sure you don't faint, and I need to tend to your wounds. You won't be able to soak, but I need to get you clean.]]

The first look of shock, his eyes widened, but he did not give a response.I did not wait for one. I didn't want this man's wounds to become infected. [[I am sorry I did not use it sooner. I'll turn around, but please remove your tunic if you can; if you need help, just let me know.]] A grimace, I was right; there was too much-dried blood. Nodding, I went and got scoopfuls of hot water and cooled it with water from the well where it was warm enough to soften the caked dirt and blood from the cloth and skin. The man winced and hissed a breath in as I poured it over the fabric. I shut my eyes feeling nothing but remorse.

Finally, the deed was done, and I felt a new wave of rage consume me as I took in his battered state. And so slowly, I went about the task of cleaning each wound and bathing him as best I could without causing further injury. [[I have to sew a couple of these up.]] He nodded and grit his jaw.

Luckily, I was aware of how to do this one task quite well. Blocking the reasons behind an iron gate in my mind, I went to work. When done, bathing the wounds with an antiseptic solution of pine needle tea and honey, I sighed in relief.

Handing him the soap and some clean cloth, [[please feel free to clean yourself, I shall be on the other side of the screen.]] With that, I sat down on the opposite side as he went to work.

It did not take long, but he emerged from the other side after a few splashes and some rustling later on in a clean yukata that Moto had laid out; luckily, it was only a tad short for him showing his ankles. Thank the Goddess for tall foxes.

He seemed perplexed by the clothing, which made me curious about what Sentinals wore, to begin with. Tugging on the edge of his robe, I motioned for him to follow me back.

Upon entering the residence, the girls were sitting at the hearth with Moto, who had them sipping tea around the low table, a high fire being built to keep off the chill from their damp hair. I smiled and pointed to the empty spot at the table and nodded to the Sentinal. He sat down on a cushion with confusion; apparently, they had chairs. I chuckled as I disappeared into the kitchen.

Foxfire at hand, I cooked up a frenzy, chicken porridge, whole trout grilled to crisp skin perfection. A mountain of rice, along with cooked mountain greens and mushrooms in pools of butter and rich spices, bring out their earthy goodness. The roast chicken was even better, rubbed with herbs and butter, and cooked surrounded by a ball of foxfire till the juices ran clear.

And finally, leftover fried tofu stew heated up and bubbling.

I called Moto to set the table and brought out all the food to place it on cloth pads to protect the wood. "My, my look at my little fox showing off."

I blushed, "hush, I don't know if they won't like certain things."

They all looked stunned--even the Sentinal. I grinned to myself. Ha!

With that, I sent a message along the spiritual path to them all. [[please eat. But don't eat too fast or you'll get sick, there is always food if you are hungry you need only ask me.]] I added, [[ That's an order.]]

Serving rice and tea to everyone, I handed the bowls out and then pointed to each item and offering it to someone; the girls apparently both were fans of the greens and mushrooms. Rice was a favorite, as well as the fried tofu.

The Sentinal seemed to favor the chicken and the fish, and even the stew was savored. He looked at the bowl approvingly. Then he began glancing at me as if to figure out where he had been taken to. I merely smiled brightly at him, which caused a deep blush to surge across his face; he quickly went back to eating, disgruntled, and bristling. Freaking Tsundere. They couldn't overeat-- which was not a surprise. But they did enjoy themselves.

"What are your names?" I asked.

All three stared at me. "Taka." I pointed to myself. Then I told Moto, "Moto." I gave them a meaningful look.

The girls nodded but shrugged. No names, it seems. "Hmm." I then took a moment to take in their features.

The one who could speak had hair that looked like warm honey, spindled with silver. Her slightly pointed ears gave away her heritage, but she had an air of Tatsu about her, the thick straight hair and the dark brown eyes as well as her skin.

The sister was more Nisse, it seemed; she was far more Elf like with blond and silver hair and bright blue eyes. But their facial features were the same. Fraternal twins? Perhaps they were. I pointed to the girl who could speak, "Freya," And to her sister, "Fauna."

They both blinked back tears and nodded, then looked at each other and clasped hands. "Fauna!" Freya said to her sister, pointing to her chest, and then to her own, "Freya."

Looking at the Sentinal, I raised a brow and pointed to myself. "Taka." And then placing my index finger on his sternum.

"Gaelan." Gruff, and to the point.

I smiled and nodded. Dinner continued in silence, and soon it was off to bed.