Sweet Spirit

The sun set in dying splendor over the horizon of the lower commons, the sight ruined by several ugly, square buildings that sat like populated, gray ruins guarding the filthy streets. Soon the night life that seemed the only thing this area boasted would begin. Already club owners, pimps, and pushers gathered about, preparing their inventories and guests for the night's activities.
However, one pure heart scampered around, moving in short, quick bursts, stopping every few hours to scan the area with her lengthy whiskers. It was a mouse spirit, fairly new to the area. So far she had no friends, and her eyesight disallowed her from seeing well farther than a few feet, blood and spit in the street appearing as bright spots in her vision, though her golden eyes were blind to anything above perhaps green in the spectrum. Everything was so dirty, but it seemed most of the humans in the area lacked the facilities to detect her. Happily, the mortal cats couldn't either. Though she couldn't memorize landmarks, those facial hairs of hers enabled her to very easily memorize the textures she came across, as unpleasant as some of those were.
A bread shop lay a few blocks away, a day's journey in this form, but the sweet smells wafting from the building pushed her on across the rough, dangerous sidewalk, dodging feet the whole way.

The little rodent continued to hop on, once stopping near an alley, standing on her back feet and looking into the darkness of the alley, those sensitive whiskers twitching and those golden eyes blinking with innocent curiosity. The ultraviolet light pattern told her she was looking at a human in the darkness, but such a thing seemed unusual. Humans couldn't see in the dark. Even the dealers seemed to only hide in it, not simply look around with competence in it. Something seemed off.
Someone walked up, a lone girl talking on a cell phone, absent to her surroundings, and the kami snapped out of her trance long enough to dodge her feet.
"Ya, gurl! So I told heem, 'look, you messed up mai order 'cause of ADD? Nigga, you'd better A-D-D some cheese on mai burger 'fore I come 'cross that counter...' "
"Oh snap!" the phone buzzed in reply.

The girl, still oblivious, kept her back to the lycan transforming, "Hol' on, Tyrone, I got someone on the other line..." pausing to click the "flash", she put the device back up to her ear. "Terell! Where's mai forty dollars? Whatchoo mean business is slo? You'd better sell something to Octavious, ain't he always buying..."
For some reason, the little mouse couldn't fathom why, the girl chose to stop near the alley to continue her ranting. The spirit, however, found herself loudly squeaking in terror, scared by the changing of this man into some sort of onikonjou. In any other circumstance, she'd let her small paws carry her out of danger, but this human might need protecting, and she couldn't just leave her to be consumed. Thus the dillema that froze her on the spot, looking back from the alley, to the girl, to the safety of the open road.

The girl pouted, obviously angry. "Boy, whatchoo talkin' 'bout? I ain't scared, and you need to get some Listerine. Yo' hot breath is melting the phone. Huh? What do you mean it ain't you? I heard you!"
The kami, judging herself to be the temporary guardian angel of this particular ghetto child and aware that her small size and light color that blended in with the sidewalk would perhaps make it hard for the beast to make her out.
Kicking out with her legs, she jumped an impressive distance, a bright flash of light catching her midair so she could jump once more. Both jumps together added up to perhaps eight feet, and she would land innocently on the lycan's snout, straddling it with her legs and hugging it with her arms. Her voice was tiny and feminine, almost a whisper though she was speaking at what sounded like normal volume to her. "Please don't hurt the human. I'm sorry you couldn't see me, please..."
She couldn't recall hearing about anything like this in the past. Perhaps he was the product of an oni committing wicked acts of lust with a human? It didn't seem that much of an impossibility with her sketchy knowledge of human genetics.

The girl looked up at the sky, walking off, "Yo, the club's about to open, I'll meet you there, a'ight?"
The girl lowered her phone, flashing it back to Tyrone and walking off. "Yea, I'm meeting up with Terrell at the club. I'm guessin' Fat Boy's going to be working there toni..." her voice faded off in the distance, leaving just the wolf and the mouse.
The little kami still held her former fright, but she simply stood up on the muzzle that she'd found herself on, taking a moment to lick her back nonchalantly to help calm herself down. "Mister Half Demon, sir, I beg your pardon, but I'm not a demon. My home is with Bleaus, and I'm down here on a mission trip. There is much corruption in the world, and I'm here to atone for the sins of a past life by doing good and helping souls find their way to paradise... like your own. Tell me, are you human? If you are, there might be some hope."

Finding herself back on all fours when the canine's muzzle moved, the mouse blinked her large eyes. They always seemed about ready to pop out of her head, as easily frightened as she was. Standing back up unsteadily, using her tail for balance, she cleared her throat. "Well, Mister..." he was right, it was hard for her to call him "human" in heaven humans lacked any and all transformation ability, it was only spirits who could cross the line between man and monster. "Mister wolf, sir, I'll have you know I used to know all about hell. I may not look it, but in the past I was a viscous demon warlord!" She raised her small arms and waved her hands to signify scariness. "I used to do stuff like... burp without saying excuse me and not take girls out on dates before I kissed them... I think... I've only heard things. Bleaus in his infinite mercy, blessed be his name, was kind enough to lock my memories and sinful nature away, so I don't remember any of it." She curled one whisker about her paw. "There's a lot of poverty here, that's why I picked it. Haven't you heard beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum?*"
Taking another look at the woylf, she realized he probably hadn't, so she chose the topic for a small sermon. "Well, what it means is that poor people tend to reach out to God more than the rich. The rich already have everything they need, but the poor are in closer touch with their mortality. The poor are the ones who realize that material possessions and power on Yochi aren't enough, you need the favor of Bleus or your deeds and your money and your worldly things will all rot with your body and your spirit will burn in Onitoshi. The people here really need to know that, more than anyone else. Do you think they're happy in their sins? Do you think they're happy being alone?"

*Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.

Of course, the great leaping and traveling madly through the air caused her to shut her eyes tight, emitting more fear than ever, and digging her small, decidedly unsharp nails into the woylf's nose. Once the world stopped moving and the halfman continued his speaking, she became thoughtful and quiet.
The little spirit paused for a moment, looking over the nasty city, the broken church, and the broken people, and her heart went out to them. Even in heaven, she'd been an outcast in a way, her past meant most of her mentors were simply waiting for the day when her old nature would consume her and they'd have to throw her into the jaws of hell. She'd shown them, though. While her peers had been frolicking in the meadows of paradise, she'd buried herself in the holy works, memorizing them, inscribing them upon her heart, and though she'd never been tempted, this still seemed to be her area. For once, she could call all of that knowledge and thinking she'd done and apply it. She didn't speak immediately, though, running her paw through her whiskers as she gathered her thoughts to make into words.
"Sir wolf, with all respect, are you those people? All of us have souls, but those people have been told those harsh words you've just told me their entire lives. 'You're lazy', said the teacher, 'You're simpleminded', 'You're a waste of time'. When were they ever given the opportunity to be anything else when everyone's expecting them to fail right out of the gate, when all of society is indoctrinating them with poison? Do you think the embryos, the souls of the people here start off any lazier or dirtier than the souls of the babies in the northern areas? I'll tell you now, no. You say they want to be poor, hungry, and destitute, but how can they want anything more when they've never tasted it, never been offered it, never even heard of it? How can they know goodness when they've never known the warmth of human compassion, only those who would take advantage of them? They don't need a pretentious church with a boastful, supercilious pastor acting as a hound in his own flock and not a shepard, they need hope, they need light, they need love. You say Bleus blocked my memory to make me a slave, but I say no, he lifted the shroud of my own wickedness to open my eyes, to give me a chance. I couldn't see past my own ruthlessness, my own deviltry otherwise. He'd forgotten what I've done, why should I remember it? And what of you, Sir Wolf?" Her tone wasn't accusatory, simply ponderous and gentle, as she found it quite impossible to raise her voice in this situation. "I can tell there's a light in you. There, in your voice... do you feel sorry for them? Why not help them on this high perch of ours instead of condemning them?"

The little mouse paused for a moment, reflecting on his comment about fear and moved a little bit closer to the woylf's head, touching the scar between his eyes gently, mournfully. "You speak from your own heart, dear human." The way he spoke told her that indeed he was human, but some great darkness inside of him caused him to believe he was something past that, or rather, the weight of his sins and whatever this darkness was caused him to shrink from the light. This transformation, no doubt, was the manifestation of this darkness. She judged she probably shouldn't push the issue, simply leave him with something to think on, as she felt somehow this darkness was very deep rooted and she wouldn't be able to help him release it in the space of a day. An exorcism might be in order, even, and despite her studies she was the poorest student of magix in her class. "If I help one lost soul find peace, it will be worth one hundred years and a thousand enemies who hate what I do in this awful city. You tell me they are this way because they want to be that way, but, if you will excuse me intruding so, I believe you were talking about yourself. It's not you I fear, my friend, it's the thought that you think you are beyond redemption and that you might as well continue spreading misery. It's the darkness that tells you these things over and over again, killing your true self, your good self under its whispers. It wasn't too late for me, and it's not too late for you. It's not too late for some people who needs to hear this message, and unless I get out there and talk, I'll never find them. I can't be dissuaded from trying."
She removed her paw from his face and turned, walking to the tip of his nose and looking down over the city, "Is this your home?" she asked, changing the subject. It wouldn't do to alienate a potential friend, this discussion had revealed much about the other, and he didn't seem all too eager to simply eat her as the oni she'd met had. If nothing else, she'd need a guide, maybe some directions to that bread shop she had been trying to reach.

Stopping to scratch behind her ear with one long foot, she sighed, allowing some of the tension from her former fears melt away. "Actually, I'm rather new to the area. I'm grateful for your help. I don't know where exactly I can get a bite to eat. I smelled a bread shop before I met you, but I'm sad to say I don't have any money right this moment. Do you know where perhaps I could find a free or cheap meal?"
On this plane, there existed the concept of "stealing", as wicked humans decided long ago to hoard goods and then greed was born. The idea floating in her head involved a fruit tree or something similar. Her small size meant she didn't really need that much to eat, but it would be pleasant to have something good in her mouth.

Rude as it would be to scream, the little mouse kami found it hard not to. Clenching her teeth and holding on with all of her tiny might, she managed to resist the impulse as she'd resisted many impulses in her afterlife, and after what seemed an infinity of jerking, falling, jumping, they were still. Mercifully, she couldn't vomit in this form. Throwing up on your ride would be rude as well. "I thank Bleaus..." she said dizzily. "...that I have a ride. You're quite fast, Sir Wolf. I never got your name, however. Mine is Atilla... I think..."
She dropped down on all fours upon reaching his shoulder, attempting to regain her inner balance.

The little mouse blinked in the artificial light, her whiskers twitching again as she sniffed the nearby bread. Such a surprise to hear that she could have all she wanted! Well, that wasn't much because as previously stated, she was a mouse, but that did little to slack her enthusiasm as she hopped down and hurried towards the glass case, lifting it carefully and withdrawing a slice of sourdough. "Bleus bless you, dear Nagi!" she said, taking a mouthful of bread and swallowing before she spoke again. "Thank you for your kindness and generosity. I pray blessings upon your friend as well. May he have more customers than he can serve at once."

Atilla continued to nibble on the bread thoughtfully, turning his question over in her mind. "Well, our kind are a funny lot. They do good all their lives, suffer for it, then they get everything they ever wanted. They just don't think they owe this sick, sad world anything else. Really, if you had everything you ever wanted, would you feel compelled to come back to this --excuse me for calling your home this but-- dump? Most of them simply sit up in the clouds, and nobody forces them to do anything else. Missionaries like myself are rare. The others who come down here have their own agendas."

"Oh same old same old..." she said, breaking off a piece of the bread and tucking it away in her miniature satchel for later consumption, deciding she was done eating for now. "Some people want the chance to live again, as odd as that seems. More than just good people are allowed in, which causes problems sometimes. Other times, people do things that would ordinarily get them kicked out and to get away with it they try to destroy witnesses. These things are rare. That's why you don't see many kamikonjou down here. I'll give you a couple of examples that I remember. There was a small yokai named Tsula Acier, her parents had been banished earlier for fornication and she followed them. I think she started going by Grunty, I hear nothing but bad news about her. Then there was the Lightning Tiger, nobody knows why he left or his wereabouts. If you don't mind me asking, is there anything to drink?"

"Hmm?" the mouse inquired, midway through a mouthful of bread. Though her friend was retreating, it would be impolite to yell out at him with food in her mouth, thus she hurredly swallowed and jumped after the lycan, more aiming to leave the same exit he was than follow him against his will. "Mister Wolf!" she cried. "Why can't you be around me anymore? You should at least allow me to repay your great kindness..."

the mouse seemed to reach the last corner of the room she planned to oil, and listened carefully to the lycan's words, answering gently, the other's tone not disturbing her all that much, despite the blasphemous overtones. "Children go to heaven. Adults can only damn themselves. Surely you wouldn't carry your parents' afflictions to your grave? Surely if you saw a better way than what they taught you, you would follow that way and forsake the wrongness that led them to an unhappy end? Everyone has the free will to choose to improve. I prefer it rather than everyone being forced to the way of light."
She put away the oil and walked to the entrance of the room, standing next to the man's feet and looking straight up. "I will apologize to the storeowner and pay him back ten times what the bread was worth. You need not buy what I'm saying, but I will be grateful for all you've done for me. If you wish to leave, I will find my way, but I will continue to pray for you, my friend. Thank you."