Lip Gloss and Black [Invoker]

Yoka Sake was ambitious.

She'd been ambitious since she was a young fox with only one tail, sleeping close to old shrines because she was hungry not only for the food left there, but the casual way people just gave away information in conversation.

Yoka always kept her ears and eyes open, taking in as much as people were willing to give away. She never knew what might come in handy--or when. She preferred it when information brought her some money, but, in this case, it'd cost her something to obtain the ancient scroll she held in gloved hands.

The price, however, would be small in comparison to what she hoped to gain from the alliance Yoka hoped to cultivate from the encounter tonight.

Yoka was ambitious, but she wasn't exactly foolish.

When individuals found out about her age, banking habits, and her status of owner of multiple successful strip clubs, they were often surprised to find that the fox lived in a rather small stone cottage outside of town.

Yoka didn't own a big home.

What she owned was a lot of land.

Yoka knew she'd need certain assistance if she wanted to reach immortality, and she wasn't foolish enough to attempt to aquire such assistance in her house. As a result, over many years of careful planning and payment to several Green Witch Guilds, Yoka had grown a large, circular hedge maze in her back yard.

Several flowers and gardens bloomed within the lovely hedge maze giving one the impression that it was something for meditation or simply hosting fancy garden parties. An aerial view, however, would reveal the patterns of the hedges to mark it as a large protective sigil.

Yoka was in the center of it, amidst a large ring constructed of brass and iron, with incense of various colors posted at the quarters of the circle. A brazer, vase of water, a knife, a vial of salt, and a gong were laid out before her. In one hand, the fox held a dead pheasant, it's body still warm. In the other, the scroll.

If the collector she'd bought the scroll from knew Yoka was out here, like this, handling that delicate piece of work without gloves on, she'd have pissed herself.

The collector would have had an outright heart attack if she knew Yoka was going to rip the head off the pheasent with her teeth right next to the scroll.

Amazingly, the blood missed the scroll, which Yoka held up triumphantly over her head. With the pheasant, she walked an interesting path, it's body angled downward, the blood from the bird marking a path that filled with circle.

It was Kanji and it read, Voldegra.

She tossed the remains of the pheasant into the fireplace, doused it with salt, poured the water over it, and rang the gong, the chimb seeming to shout out, Voldegra.

Yoka took the knife, cut her palm, added her blood's to the pheasant's on the ground and she said, "Voldegra."

What remained of the fire flickered out and then burst back to life.

The fox waited.



((ooc: @"Invoker" long thread is long i am sorry, but i wanted to give you a dramatic entrance))

Yoka was impressed.

The smoke condensed, shifting and twisting and turning before her eyes, and the fox felt goosebumps trail up her arms. The apparition before her was truly something from the old stories, serpentine and twisted into a familiar shape that made Yoka nostalgic for the time when kitsune were a fact and not a work of fiction.

"Who invokes Voldegra?"

The sounds, oh such sounds, such a language that hadn't graced Yoka's ears this century.

"I, who in this age and time calls herself Yoka Sake, a Yako of the Kitsune, a fox amongst men, invokes you, oh Voldegra," Yoka said, her voice strong and confident amongst the quiet of the night.

Tonight, Yoka was in her standard form of a slim, thin-faced Japanese woman with dark orange hair. She was wearing a silk komono, a garb she traditionally reserved for her rituals, and because it was the finest and oldest piece of clothing she owned.

She did not bother to hide the fact that she was impressed from her face.

Yoka did not bother to hide much from demons, though she did have boundaries set--such as by never performing a summoning in her home or work--but she never engaged in talk of false hoods before them. Demons were far too clever to fall for such ploys, and far older than she at playing those sorts of games.

Ironically, Yoka found honesty to be the best policy in these affairs.

"I seek to curry favor and foster a relationship that might benefit both parties," Yoka started. The next part, she was forced to word differently.

As a kitsune, she could make give gifts, but they must always be intangible in nature. "I offer information as a gift, a willingness to serve with eyes and wears when it might benefit you in this region. As an offering--"

She again picked up the vase and set it before the brazer, resting the scroll next to it. "I offer you my finest wine, this most valuable scroll, and a human host of your standards, if desired, to be delivered when one becomes available.

The fox would need to find a human host, of course, but Yoka had enough people that owed her favors that finding one shouldn't be too difficult.

"What you desire can be yours, fox Yoka Sake."

Yoka's tails wagged behind her illusion. She did not bother to hide how pleased she was, especially when the apparition reached out towards the scroll. Yoka knew she was projecting, but she hoped the motion looked like interest.

"I have no taste for wine, though it is permitted to my servants, and as many bodies as I require. However, this scroll pleases me. It is of value beyond mortal flesh or food or drink. And your services may be of use to me."

"I take pride in my services and can assure you that I uphold my standards to the highest quality I am able," Yoka said. In a way, this was almost like a job interview. Hi, please hire me, I work very hard and would really like the benefits and cash that come from a job well done.

"It pleases me that you find the scroll of value. It is not often that I come across scrolls such as this in this age," Yoka admitted.

Unlike a job interview, Yoka didn't have to show a resume--or her tits--only the scroll. She was pleased, oh so pleased.

The apparition looked towards the sky and Yoka followed it's gaze.

"I thought myself called back to Nihon of an age past, but the stars are wrong. I do not know this place in this time. To where have you called me, fox Yoka Sake?".....I wish to know where our relation begins."

"We are on a warded island in the south pacific ocean called the Manta Carlos Islands," the fox said. She pronounced Manta Carlos Islands with an American accent, switching out of Japanese before resuming. "It is the year 2015 based on the most modern of the calendars. The islands are home to Starlight Academy, a boarding school for students gifted with supernatural powers, making it a unique place amongst this mortal plane.

She hesitated, but only for a moment, and then laughed, saying, "I believe there is much to be gained on these Islands. The population stops it from being boring, though it also makes for fierce competition. Have you been to this island since it has been inhabited? "

Though Yoka was impressed by the apparition’s display of wealth, that was not quite what she was looking for. The fox knew that such wealth was not long-lasting. How many mortals had she bribed with wealth produced through her magic only to watch the bargainer wither away not long after?

No, what Yoka was looking for was not quite so tangible.

“I am seeking immortality,” Yoka said. “And such a feat might be mine in yet another four hundred years. However, there are many that would prefer I not reach such an age. My ninth tail will make me a force to be reckoned with, yet another being that can grant wishes and give favors, though I will be without the need for contracts and bargains.”

Working in the sex industry was the closest form of worship the fox could get in the last two centuries. It was a worship that promised instant, gratifying results. You love and worship me and I will give you a show worthy of your attention. Everyone’s prayers were always answered.

Of course, those that knew that the dollar bills tucked into her panties or spent on the fine wine resting on her alters were really fueling her powers weren’t always so happy. The fox already had several attempts on her life and wasn’t keen on having another.

Plus, there were so, so many demons on this island.

It wouldn’t hurt to have some on her side now.

“Would you like a tour of the island in the morning?”
The fox asked. “I can set you up with lodgings of your desire tonight, under the alias that you are a visiting consultant here on my call. It is not a large island, not in terms of the continents, but there is much to see.”

So you need time. Four hundred years? This is not so long to me, but I have met few in your world who last. Mortal lives are fragile, yet you already claim five tails and as many hundred years to your own. Perhaps I can help you outlast your mortality and become eternal."

Behind the illusion, Yoka's tails whirled again. This entire exchange had pleased her greatly. Trying to arrange a deal with forces such as Voldegra was always risky business. It didn't matter that this wasn't Yoka's first time attempting such a feat...it was just her first one in a while, and the first one she'd ever attempted on the island. She'd had the maze built many years ago in preparation, but her trip to American had distracted her greatly. So did coming back to find her business in shambles, and the last attempt on her life had left her...uneasy.

"Consider a proposition. I will send to you my servant Shi Mei. She will come to this place as your 'visiting consultant,' walking as a mortal among mortals but bearing the soul of a demon. Shi Mei will defend or destroy for you as I command. All said to her will be heard by me, and through her you may draw upon my wisdom. Does this offer suit you, Yoka Sake?"

"This offer suits me quite well," Yoka said. "I will hold what I have mentioned as my offer in exchange for this agreement. To what would you prefer to act as a sign of this exchange?"

On this matter, Yoka found she had to ask. In the past, she'd signed in blood, just found a regular contract in the mail a few weeks later (do demons have lawyers?) kissed the demon on the lips, pissed on a specific statue, or kept a special chunk of obsidian in her desk that cracked when the deal expired or was completed.

She hoped she didn't have to piss on a statue again.

That was her most awkward trip to Washington DC to date.