#i don't really like it still. but that's probably due to storybook au

[kenziedrawz]

I finally figured out why I didn't like Dantoru when it came to ruikasa au ships.

it's because it was literally shy gay twink x hot man. tell me I'm wrong and that this isn't dantoru most of the time.

[prowerprojects]

Lol, new AU: Because of all security measures he made to protect himself and his animal buddies, Tails is the reason Cocoa Island becomes the Sonic's world equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle. It is infamously advised not go near there due to the legendary, but elusive two-tailed creature and its traps *that has claimed many lives.. (Which may or may not peak the interest of a certain blue hedgehog one of these days to rise to the challenge.)

Heh, one has to wonder, huh? (While I don't think Sonic would become as asocial [or blunt] as Shadow, I do think he'd be less laidback. Probably coming off as unintentionally rude [and more awkward] at times due to misreading certain social cues. {Can read emotions just fine, but might run away if you burst into tears cause he doesn't know to reassure you and doesn't want to make it worse] Longer recovery times and more scars due to lack of having a mobile "safety net". But overall, still an adventurous, world-saving dude.

((*Not really, 'tis rumors. A lot of daredevils get scared out of their wits though and flee without hesitation)) This does bring into question of how both respond to each other under different circumstances. This isn't like the shatter counterparts or storybooks where Sonic had prior knowledge and pre-established bonds. (And their bonding probably won't be as seamless as it would if they had met earlier in life, but a close friendship isn't impossible.)

Noooo anon but I actually love this so much. I'm stealing it, now it's an au. I'm gonna call it "Tails's Island" or something. (I can even connect this to my Core & Alana au, so Tails gets to Coco Island specifically because he knows his mom's workshop used to be there, and he finds the coordinates to it somewhere).

Maybe something did even actually happen. Maybe the plot of Tails Adventure with the Battle Bird Armada (Though in the C&A au it's Core (Tails's mom) who deals with them), or he accidentally killed or injured someone else when they got to the island. It was horrified, but now he tries to be more careful to just scare people off. (But when he and Sonic are fighting later on, he accidentally draws blood and it makes him feel awful again)

Sonic hears the rumors and takes them as a challenge. Tails does his best to scare him off, but Sonic isn't easy. It only makes him more excited. Eventually, Tails sees Sonic maybe being nice to the animals or something. They start tentatively bonding. Tails leaves Sonic little messages and gifts. Sometimes Sonic talks to him when he knows Tails is listening. But Tails doesn't show himself to Sonic.

Eventually, Sonic gets impatient and ends up just following Tails home. Tails feels scared, betrayed, and crushed. They have a fight. Tails ends up biting Sonic and draws blood. He's mortified. (Maybe he has a breakdown) Sonic feels lost and doesn't know what to do so he just runs away. (He leaves the Tornado and just runs on water. Maybe he got into a little crash the first time he got there and Tails fixed it up in an attempt to get him to leave. Later Tails finds it and realizes he didn't even need it)

Tails thinks Sonic is going to come back with a backup to get him. (He's both scared but kind of resigns himself to this fate) He keeps waiting but Sonic isn't coming back. He realizes he's now actually missing him. Eventually, Sonic comes back and brings an apology gift. (He initially wasn't going to come back, but something happened that made him change his mind) They decide to start from scratch.

Sonic occasionally visits Tails and brings him gifts/tells him stories about his adventures. Tails wants to go out into the world, but he's still unsure. Eventually, Eggman realizes Sonic spends a suspicious amount of time on this one island. He looks into it and realizes it is the home to a Mystic Artifact (whatever the Battle Birds were looking for there which isn't the Chaos Emeralds in this au). He attacks the island, and Tails helps Sonic drive him away. In the process they find the Mystic Artifact and use it, so Eggman (or anyone else) has no incentive to come back.

Tails ends up deciding to leave with Sonic, and all of his little animal friends encourage him. (I imagine he has 4 flicky companions that he can't necessarily talk to, but they've spent so much time together that they still understand each other). And then they have a lot of adventures and learn the magic of friendship the end!

***

Hehe my take is a bit more melodramatic than yours, anon 😅

But you're right this could also be the perfect au to showcase how Tails's absence in Sonic's life has also influenced Sonic, and not just the other way around!

[petalsonfacesnovinesthough]

Sonic Quilford AU Custom "Arcs" 2

Yes, I have more ideas! Including one I'm going to retcon in to previous actions! Yay!

(In between Metal Virus and Belle, but like, right after the final fight in Metal Virus) Rush Return: After ridding his world of the Metal Virus with help from Silver, the Warp Topaz backfired and sent the tired 17yo to the Elemental Dimension, stranding Sonic there. Thus, Sonic and Blaze have to figure someway to get him home before Robotnik tries anything. All the while, everyone in the Chaos dimension is scrambling and a certain purple-wearing warlock is stirring up trouble in the background. How is everyone else handling the information that Sonic's fallen into Blaze's dimension? Why won't the Elemental Citrines send Sonic back this time? Just what did the Chaos Emeralds do?

You know it, I know it, Sonic's visit to Blaze's dimension at the end of the Metal Virus arc is... Troublesome. The amnesia thing didn't even go anywhere! It was just "Hi Mr. Needlemouse. Bye Sonic". Better can be done. Thus, it gets its own arc! Sonic and Blaze have a great dynamic, and Egglock/Clay Melongenik isn't anything to sneeze at either, even if that's just from tertiary decisions in relation to musical song parodies in my head and fully making Eggman Nega Silver's nemesis.

(Time Jump Fair after Story Whirlwind) Clans of Chaos: After Espio agrees to a request from his mother to come home, Eggman strikes with a new set of hired mercenaries, including a few who look awful similar to the Chaotix's resident ninja. Just how close is Espio to this new group of enemies? How has a regular Eggman plot gotten G.U.N. involved? And what did Mrs. Matofore mean by "new governor"?

Since Espio's a trained ninja with family, I figured it'd be a disservice in hiding them from the audience. So, we get an arc about them! This has a few scenes I really can't decide how I want to portray them, because I see them so vibrantly in my head. Especially a very climactic fight near the climax.

(Time Jump Far after Clans of Chaos) A Rose Built With Any Other Scrap: After a fraught night of bedtime stories, muddled directives, and inventing, Metal Sonic now has a partner to keep him in line, due to him slowly wriggling out of his obedience programing. All the while, the Egg Carrier's return to the shores of Station Square brings Sonic back, so the Scrapniks have a friendly face to greet them. How will Metal feel about Mecha? Who is Metal's new restraining bolt? And with it being her home, just who will drag Amy Rose into this?

Considering how Metal can be, I don't think Robotnik just, programming him to obey his every command and not rebel is going to work forever. Case in point, Gamma. Ergo, combining with what I decide are canon ships for the AU, a Metal Amy. Of course, someone prefers the original and won't accept a replacement. Also, the Scrapniks! They weren't in my original idea for this arc, but I figured with the name that it would make sense to let them show up.*

(Sidenote, but Mecha looks wonderful in brown.)*

(Time Jump Far after Sonic's 19th Birthday) Sonic and the Apotosian Dream: After getting invited to see Amy in a play along with Tails and Team Chaotix, Sonic ends up getting dragged off the Fae's Domain in Apotos. What with Theseus' tumultuous wedding-to-be with Hippolyta, Oberon and Titania fighting, and the two couples getting lost in the woods, Sonic's going to have much more on his hands than a lost ticket or two!

Custom Storybook game, baby! As for what's being adapted, why none other than Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"! As per usual, there's doppelgangers, a way you could say the story never happened, and missions, missions, missions! I'm still working on the outline, but I'll probably talk about this more in the future.

(Time Jump Fair after SatAd) Curiosity of Ages: As time marches on, a certain egg-shaped doctor begins wondering just where in his past he went wrong, and realizing he'll soon be 52, inspiration strikes him. Thanks to the Egg Chicken, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Rouge, Vector, Charmy, Mighty, and Ray all end up with their ages swapped around. With Tails, Cream, and Charmy now being the oldest of the group, problems arise further. Can the adults and teen keep their cool now that they've returned to their youths? Can the three kids handle the responsibility of being the front line?

Considering all the ages of the Sonic cast, this kinda feels like it was coming for a while. If I could pick any of my concepts to send to SEGA to be made canon, it would be this idea. Having the youngest members of the cast suddenly being the oldest would be fascinating, along with its flipside. Add a flashback or two... The regular.

(Time Jump Fair after Curiosity of Ages) Scrambled Stories Over Easy: After learning of the events surrounding Starline's death last January, Robotnik nabs the three books emanating with World Energy, leading to encounters of the selves, so it seems. Time seems ready to run out as Sonic has to get everyone back where they belong. Will the crossing of worlds confuse literally everyone? How many people will get called the wrong thing by Sonic? Just how long do they have before everyone gets reamed?

I am forever convinced that the Storybook games are real, and actually happened. Sonic does know a genie, is King Arthur's counterpart(as in this AU, there is a REAL Arthur Pennquilon), and did end up with unwanted romantic affections from the Queen of the Faeries(Sonic's role in SatAD is, loosely, Bottom's). As such, we can get 4 Tails(Miles, Ali Baba, Smithy, and Cobweb) in the same room! What more can you want?

[demonslayedher]

I lost a bet to myself and paid the price by making another demon sibling AU. Was originally just going to be headcanons and doodles, but I wound up writing the parts I felt like. The names of Tengen's siblings are entirely made up. This will come in two parts due to length.

Clicking each bone in his spine, Yogen stood to his full height, taller than Tengen remembered. It wasn't uncommon to go long periods of time without seeing his siblings when they were on their own missions, but Yogen shouldn't had changed that much. "I'll spare you. It wouldn't do for the Uzui clan not to have a head. Now you're the strongest one."

"...Yogen..."

"I wouldn't had been able to take you on, if not for the fact that you'd never have done it if you knew. You should thank me, Aniki. You know what I've spared you? Father was going to make us all have a fight to the death. You'd have done at least half of this."

"What have you done!?"

"I ate them," he laughed, something Tengen had never heard Yogen do in his adult voice. He had the most infectious laugh when they were children, and this rang with the same pleasure, however dissonant. "I was stunned too, at first. When I came to, I had eaten two of them, they were still warm in my mouth, their cells already nourishing mine. But you know what? I decided to eat the others. I was going to kill them anyway, what difference does it make that I should eat them?"

Tengen's face pearled back into a snarl, his eyes flaring.

"One, two, three... Eizen got away before I could bite him, though. That whelp would had done nothing for me. The one I really wanted to eat was the strongest," he said, his glowing white eyes shifting down to their father's fresh corpse. "And now, even he's nothing to me."

Tengen could stand no more of this. "Yogen!!" he screamed and gripped one of the swords at his back, and charged at Yogen all in one motion. A hard sickle burst out of the flesh of Yogen's arm and caught it, but when Tengen pulled his other sword down through Yogen's shoulder and chest, the sound of ripping sinews what different than it should had been. A look over to the injury revealed that the shoulder was repairing itself before Tengen's eyes. When had he learned any technique like that?

The momentary lapse in focus caught him, Yogen swiped up against Tengen's forearm. It felt too varied to had been spiked knuckles--those were his fingertips, he had grown claws. Tengen drew a sword up to lop off Yogen's forearm, and then his brother let out a shrill scream as his features lit up and revealed how contorted they had become. Yogen didn't look human anymore with how his veins bulged and burned. Burned? From what? Tengen took a look over his shoulder to the sun rising and casting light through the wide open door, and when he looked back, Yogen was gone.

---

Tengen watched the flames consume the house and the bodies of his slain family. He had combed it for any trace of Yogen, but his brother left none. Hope though he did that the flames may consume Yogen too, he knew in his gut that he was still out there.

Behind him, Suma sneezed in a gust of smoke that wafted into her face. Hinatsuru handed her a handkerchief, as she and Makio were already covering their faces in case of poison. Tengen didn't bother, he was resistent to most ninja poisons, and the scratches down his forearm were already less swollen. "You three should go back to your homes."

"No!" insisted Suma.

"We're already members of the Uzui clan," said Hinatsuru.

"Your revenge is ours," added Makio.

Hinatsuru made the most important point, they were already seen as his property. He could hear whispers and feel them all being watched; the other ninja clans knew what had befallen the most powerful family, and the Uzui name was now shunned. Even if Tengen wanted to stay, he had no place in the village, and neither did anything that belonged to him. The only thing left for him now was to track his brother down and drag him to hell.

Someone else was approaching, and Tengen reached for one sword. Uneven footsteps. One didn't have the splat of a foot, it was the thunk of wood--a cane, or two canes? A leisurely, but determined pace. Self-assuredness, even for entering ninja territory. A robust heartbeat. Who was coming?

"Well, is that what you all look like? I feel like I've wandered into one of those storybooks," said an old man. He had one missing leg, a full head of hair and moustache to rival it, a grin, and a telltale scar lining the underside of his left eye. "I had always left your kind alone, but I couldn't when I felt the presence of a demon over here."

"Who are you?" Tengen asked, stetching one arm before his wives while the other hand stayed at his weapon.

"You didn't chop its head off, did you, ninja boy? It's long gone by now, you know. It'll hide from daylight. Be even more trouble to find if it's one of your folk."

"How do you know about us?" Makio shot back.

"How do you children not know about demons? Aye," the old man huffed to himself as he set down a stool he carried. He planted his rump on it, then folded his arms. "The name's Kuwajima Jigoro, former Roaring Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corp. I figured this would be out of your expertise, so I've come to help."

Tengen felt in his gut he could trust that. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head, his wives all doing likewise behind him. Jigoro seemed to enjoy that, but insisted they do not. Instead of bowing, he'd appreciate the ladies rubbing his shoulders to display their gratitude, he said.

While Hinatsuru and Makio set about at each arm, Suma kneeled at his remaining foot with a gasp. "Aren't old people not supposed to be this beefy?"

"Can it, Suma!" chided Makio.

Hinatsuru said nothing, but could feel something was different in this man, not only in his physique. Whatever he had to say was going to change their lives more than the previous night already had. They all listened carefully as Jigoro orated about the existence of demons, how they eat humans, how they are near impossible to kill, but also the methods of those who hunt them, with specialized blades and an organization to support them. As he began describing Breath, however, Tengen stopped him. "I already know all that, that's ninjutsu basics. That's not giving me anything I don’t already have."

"Oh? I figured as much. Always made me curious about you pups. So you you've got the basics of Breath technique, huh?"

"It's beyond basic," he shot him an annoyed frown.

"I'll be the judge of that. See that tree over there? That's probably about the strength of the usual demon neck. Go hog wild on it." As much as showing off was against the ninja code, Tengen wasn't in the mood to argue and made short work of that tree, the only sound being the pop of it seperating into two halves. Jigoro gave him a clap, then stood with his cane. "Good accuracy. Spot on. Now you pick one out for me. Take some mercy, though, I'm only working at half-strength." He balanced on his foot and his peg, plopping the end of his cane in his palm to show off that he meant to use it in place of a sword. Tengen hated when other people tried to be show-offs, so he pointed to a tree a few rings thicker than the one he had cut.

The old man eyed it, then slid his good foot through the dirt, and as he leaned forward, clouds of steam rose from his lips. "Breath of Thunder, Fifth Form. Heat Lightning."

The sound hit Tengen so hard that he covered his ears, and the old man was gone--on the other side of the tree, which was not only cleanly chopped, but split itself in half vertically as it fell. A rarity, Tengen's jaw dropped. Jigoro looked back with a fierce grin, knowing he'd have left them all impressed.

Rather than one knee, Tengen planted his palms and face to the ground. "Please teach me this technique, Master."

"When did I ever say I wanted a student like you? You already said you know Breath technique, don't you?"

"You won't teach him?" Suma sat straight up, little tears in the corners of her eyes.

"I only want students with talents I can mold. You're already set your ways and would just try to make Thunder Breathing into what you want. You can't fill a full tea cup, as they say."

Tengen wanted to insist he's do anything to take his revenge, but the old man was right. As he was, he wouldn't be able to unlearn everything he always knew, it was as much a part of him as every experience and memory, like every scar, such as the ones running down his left arm.

"The true nature of Thunder Breathing would escape you, you'd get too caught up in how powerful it looks. You're too flashy!"

His cheeks flushed. "Say that again."

"You're too... flashy? I don't think a ninja should find that a compliment."

"You can't tell him all that and then not train him!" insisted Makio. "Please! There's got to be something you can do! Tengen-sama works really hard!"

"Tengen-sama works harder than anyone!"

"Please, Master. Tengen-sama can think flexibly, please give him a chance."

"I won't! I can already tell he's not the sort of student I'm looking for!" he barked back, and Suma burst out into sobs, while Hinatsuru hid delicate tears and Makio's face turned dark red. Jigoro flinched at the sight of the upset girls, then looked back to Tengen. "I--I didn't come out here to leave you high and dry, you know. I already told you about the Corp, didn't I? That's where you really need to go. I can't teach you Thunder Breathing, but if you really think you can pick up something new, there's an old scroll I've got of an off-shoot Breath. Someone like you might be able to pull it off. What do you say, ninja boy? How about I give that to you and you teach yourself Sound Breathing?"

---

From there, Tengen took much the same course as in canon. When he became a Pillar and had his meeting with Oyakata-sama, he was upfront about his reasons for entering the Corp. Oyakata-sama appreciated his frankness and assured him that the entire Corp would support him if they found any information on Yogen, but Oyakata-sama was also keen on the undercurrent of Tengen's heart; that he was relieved to leave the murderous ways of ninja, and that he wanted to live an upright life. This finally gave words to something Tengen always felt, but thought he had no right to wish for. He and his wives were moved and they swore loyalty to Oyakata-sama.

However, as time went on, there were no clues whatsoever about Yogen. Around the time they all got antsy, Makio finally couldn't stand it anymore and suggested they may never find him. "Think about it," she said. "This Corp is full of strong swordsmen. Someone might had already chopped off his head long before we got here."

While that should had come as a relief, Tengen couldn't help but find the idea frustrating. That revenge was his to take. He could think of only one person stronger than him who might had done it, so he described Yogen to Himejima one day and asked if he remembered seeing a demon like that. Himejima plainly replied that he was blind.

As they began to accept that they may never have closure, Hinatsuru proposed that they be satisfied bagging an Upper Moon. That should be enough for them to earn their peace, she said, and as much as it grinded away at Tengen's heart, he agreed.

In the course of performing Tengen's Pillar duties, they closed in on what was likely an Upper Moon in Yoshiwara. Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma slipped in, but when he lost contact, Tengen went looking for some female Corp members to sneak in and see what was up. That's when he reencountered the boy whose head he meant to spill at the last Pillar meeting, as well as his two annoying buddies. Inosuke would had been satisfyingly flamboyant, if not for the fact that he was gross. The other whelp was named Zenitsu.

"You write that 'Zen' with the kanji for virtue?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

"Nothing," Tengen replied, never saying anything of it ever again. It didn't take long for him to notice that Zenitsu had ears on par with his own.

The boys managed to get in, and soon the plan went awry. Tengen's first encounter with an Upper Moon broke out, and that went awry in the most horrifically flamboyant of ways. Tengen found himself unconscious, needing to stop his heart to keep the demon poison from spreading, as it was many times more potent than any ninja or demon poison he encountered before. There was fire in the wreckage nearby, he'd be consumed if he doesn't move soon. In the odd space where consciousness was returning to him, his hearing reached into a deeper plain, where he could hear the most carnal thoughts pounding though the bodies of those around him.

Tanjiro was panicking.

No scent! No scent! Upper Moon Five--where did--but--no scent! No scent!!

Tengen could hear Upper Moon Six, in both bodies, but he couldn't hear any other demon. It gave off no sound. He struggled to look in Tanjiro's direction, and was stunned by the sight of a demon partway sticking out of the shadow Tanjiro has cast, guarding Upper Moon Six with a kunai stuck in his arm.

"Sakage!" growled Upper Moon Six. That is not the demon's name. "I don't need you here! Were you intruding on my thoughts?"

"I didn't need to. I heard the cacophony from ages away. You wouldn't had seen wisteria coming anyway."

Upper Moon Six looked to the kunai, while Tanjiro panicked that the poison had no effect on the newly arrived demon.

"Quit with all the fuss. I'd appreciate it if you hurry up and silence that Pillar over there," he turned his glance to Tengen. His eyes had writing in them, but that was Yogen. "I can't be bothered."

Yogen disappeared into the shadow as suddenly as he appeared, and Tanjiro fell forward with a stumble. He'd be a sitting duck like that, Tengen had to go save him, he pushed himself off the ground to--but--but his arm was missing--the scars were torn off-----

---

Yogen had been quick to learn some of the ins and outs of being a demon, but not all the finer details. He gathered from the surrounding demons' fear of the drum demon that the "Twelve Moons" were the most fearsome demons, closest to their progenitor, but didn't those other demons notice that the drum demon couldn't stomach humans as he ate them? That demon was weak, and Yogen wouldn't stand for it. He cut off his head.

It did not kill the demon, who screamed at him with the characters "Lower Six" in one of his eyes, but he shut up quick when Kibutsuji Muzan arrived. Despite warning Yogen that this was not how fights between demons were done and he should kill Yogen for acting without permission, Muzan smilingly decided to allow it, and instructed him to absorb the former Lower Moon Six and assume his role. Muzan did not care for how Yogen's name referenced sunlight, though. He renamed him Sakage on a whim.

Sakage went on to learn very quickly how to please Muzan, and how to climb the ranks. While not immune, he could resist wisteria poison, which Muzan was more than pleased to borrow from him and see how he could try to adopt it into his own cells. Sakage could move between connected shadows, and in spying on the Corp, he picked up on the hand signs the swordsmen used and quickly deciphered them, and openly reported so to the demons that outranked him. With hearing far more advanced that his brother's ever was, he listened to the information shared between crows, piecing apart their language to the best of his understanding.

Lower Moons Three and Two later, he used his spying abilities to identify his next target: Upper Moon Five.

Gyokko was startled by the challenge, and under Muzan's gaze, he could not refuse. Sakage made short work of him, and the other Moons all felt a chill. Akaza's chill was excitement.

Akaza wasted no time in chatting up the new Upper Moon, for Sakage likewise had a stated hatred for weaklings. While Sakage did find it a bit of a bother, especially since he knew he was a long way from ever being able to pose a real challenge to Akaza, he learned that the quickest way to stop Akaza from pestering him was to spar. Akaza loved to chit-chat even while sparring, though, and this became a useful way for Sakage to catch up on a hundred years of gossip about the other Upper Moons.

While it did feel they had somewhat of a friendship, one day they got on the topic of poison. "I hate people who use poison," said Akaza, between punches. "It's as cowardly and low as you can get."

Sakage, who could create a myriad of weapons from his cells as needed and always laced them in poison, was not offended, but disagreed. "I see no problem in being effective."

This gave Akaza pause, and an uncomfortable drop in his stomach. He excused himself, and bothered Sakage not so often after that.

Muzan was typically pleased with Sakage, which made Hantengu tremble that the ambitious demon had it out for him next. When Muzan was in a foul mood after Upper Moon Six's defeat, Sakage was likewise in a bad mood for the annoyance he encountered out there, someone who should had stayed hidden away instead of bearing free his inherently show-offy personality by joining the Demon Slayer Corp, especially since he was sure to have his ears set to the ground now for any new sign of him. He was certain Tengen witnessed him. But, for as much of an insult as it was to the Upper Moons that Gyutaro let him live, Tengen wouldn't be much of a threat anymore.

Still, Sakage knew to keep his cool. He had news to report, and he was certain of his deciphering. When he declared where the swordsmith village was located, Muzan had no doubts, and sent Hantengu alone. "Now why couldn't you find that, after all this time?" Muzan smirked to Nakime. She, not being of any rank, could merely apologize. Sakage took no pleasure or pride in looking better than a peer whom he knew he was stronger than. Muzan's mood could never be sustained for long, though, and he very soon frowned back to him. "You've brought no word of the blue spider lily."

"My apologies."

"Aren't ninja supposed to have knowledge of these things? Weren't you of a high ranking clan? Go back and order them to search."

And, at that moment, a dangerous thought escaped Sakage's inner filter, it leaked though to his mind at the same moment it leaked to Muzan's: But I can't show my face back there.

The way Muzan's face bent with disgust drove more terror into Sakage than when he was still a human and first encountered the demon lord. He felt certain of a swift death, but Muzan let him be. Sakage was still too useful. But, Sakage knew he'd have to crawl back to Muzan's graces by providing something of more use to him. He had to unveil a secret of more value.

--

Tengen, who remained active despite missing an eye and a hand, was present at an emergency Pillar meeting. Tokito and Kanroji were bandaged up, and they recounted how the swordsmith village was attacked by Upper Moon Four. With two Pillars and a few other reliable Corp members all working together they defeated him well before daybreak, but not before discovering an ancient ability known only as "the mark."

As he was now, Tengen knew he'd never attain this. What bothered him more was how the demons found the village, so hidden that he'd have to put his mind to it to have figured out where it was. He could had resorted to old tricks to figure it out, whether that be silently tracking the smiths after their deliveries or flirting with the Kakushi, but what recourse would a demon have had?

'I heard the cacophony----'

A demon may have had ears that rivaled his own, or were better!

Feeling sure of which demon it may had been, he set to thinking of what he would do next. If the demon moved in shadow, listening for the Corps' secrets, what would be a bigger target than the swordsmith village?

Oyakata-sama!

"Uzui-san, are you alright?" asked Himejima. "You seem quiet today."

"You look pale," added Kanroji.

"I'm jealous I won't get one of those flashy marks," he lief without flaw. "We all know I can't take any demons on like I used to. Maybe I don’t belong here."

"Uzui, what sort of talk is that?" Iguro looked to him with his flamboyant dichromatic eyes wide, and brows knit tight over them. "This isn't like you."

"I've got a different sort of mission to go on, I'll see myself out. You all stay here and keep each other company discussing this."

"Then I'll excuse myself here as well--"

"Not you, you've got no excuse," Uzui forced Tomioka back to a seated position by pressing on his head.

In conducting his own investigation, Tengen set his crow to work investigating from the sky. What the crow learned, tracing a few leaks and scolding the birds involved, was that their mid-air communications may had been what spoiled the secret location. This confirmed Tengen's suspicion about Yogen's hearing. He had a feeling about some other spoiled secrets too, and in following up with Corp members involved in previous mishaps, he concluded that the secret hand signals had been divulged.

--

(Read the conclusion reblog here.)