Damion dropped his chopsticks, feeling sick all of a sudden. "I thought she was with you." He said quietly, trying to remember where he had last seen her.

 "Great; I thought she was with you," Kiki growled, getting up from her chair. Damion didn't like the anxious look in her eyes as he got up too, all thoughts of eating instantly vanishing.

 "Last I remember seeing her she had been looking at a lantern and I told her to come with us to the food area. Then the rest is kind of a blur." Damion murmured, running a shaky hand through his hair. 

 He let out a yelp of surprise as Kiki grabbed his shoulders, her eyes wild as she asked. "Which lantern was she looking at?" 

 "Let me think for a minute," Damion snapped, feeling just as wildly anxious as Kiki looked. He tried to think back to what seemed like hours ago but in reality, was only minutes since he had seen Miyuki staring up in fear at a certain lantern. He furrowed his brows in concentration and closed his eyes, trying to remember what crest was imprinted on the lantern. It was a fuzzy blob to him, no matter how hard he tried to remember the image. "I think it was an animal." Damion finally said as he opened his eyes, not at all certain that it was an animal.

 "Let's go back to the stall I bought the Honey Root and you can point out the lantern," Kiki said quietly, her eyes dark. He nodded and let her drag him away from his plate of now cold food and back through the crowds to the entrance. The main road was now illuminated by many lanterns that weren't there when they had passed earlier. Damion felt his hope plummet as he saw all the various crests, not sure he would be able to identify the right one.

 "We're here; which one is it?" Kiki asked urgently, her eyes scanning all the lanterns within sight. He gulped as he looked around, feeling his heart beat faster as he started studying the lanterns.

 He felt himself hurrying as he went through the row of lanterns, again and again, going faster every time. He flinched as he felt Kiki's cool hand on his shoulder, glancing into her brown eyes.

 "Damion; this is important. Think it through and take it slow." She said softly, keeping her gaze locked with his. Damion immediately felt himself relax and he took a deep breath.

 Opening his eyes he studied the lanterns one at a time, slowly discarding them as the image in his head grew clearer. It isn't the Maple Leaf, nor the Leaping Frog. He thought cautiously as he walked down the road, narrowing it down to two lanterns. One was a phoenix with wings spread wide and embers showering down from it while the other was a fox that looked as if it was trapped in a diamond.

 "It's that one." Damion finally said, pointing to the diamond fox lantern. Kiki came to his side and stared up at it before dropping her gaze to the plaque below.

 "I was afraid of that; we have to hurry." Damion let out a yelp as she grabbed his arm and sprinted down the main path, causing other Kitsune to leap out of the way with shouts and cries.

 Damion started feeling sick as she took them down several different paths, his arm getting sore as she yanked him around corners. He crashed into her back as she stopped abruptly, letting go of his arm simultaneously. "Can you maybe tell me what's happening?" Damion growled as he stepped to her side, hating how he was always behind on knowing what was happening. 

 "Shh," Kiki whispered, her large sandy-colored ears swiveling and twitching. Damion bit back a retort and decided to try listening too. He was surprised how well he could hear now with the fox ears, picking out sounds from the screaming of a toddler to the drop of a coin.

 "Miyuki listen. . ." Damion met Kiki's identical shocked gaze as they both heard someone speak Miyuki's name.

 "This way." She said, grabbing his arm once again and taking him down a darker path. There were barely any lanterns down this path with only a few small and shabby stalls on either side before they too were gone. The path soon narrowed into a tunnel with small lights hanging from the rocky ceiling, keeping the tunnel from plunging into complete darkness. Several tunnels branched off but Kiki kept them on the main one, her ears constantly twitching to pick up the slightest noise.

 "Just stop!" Damion jumped as he heard Miyuki's shout from ahead, feeling himself running past Kiki and skidding around a corner to the left, his ears erect. He felt his muscles protesting but pushed himself, sliding to a stop in front of a tunnel to the right. His eyes widened as he saw Miyuki. She was backed against a wall, her head down and face hidden from view. In front of her, with his hands against the wall on either side of her was a tall Kitsune.

 He had long reddish-black hair tied loosely back in a ponytail. He wore a crimson red Yukata that had black leaves printed on the bottom portion. His narrowed golden eyes were trained on Miyuki and his mouth was twisted into a scowl.

 "Get away from her!" Damion snarled, surprised at the fierceness in his voice and the fury that bubbled within him. Miyuki jolted upright and snapped over to stare at Damion with wide eyes, her face bright red and her eyes wet with tears. The Kitsune turned his glare to Damion but didn't budge.

 "Damion; what are you doing?" Kiki hissed, finally caught up. He didn't glance over at her, his whole being only focused on the male Kitsune. The Kitsune's slitted eyes slid over to Kiki, a look of mild shock passing over them.

 "It's been a while since I've seen you Kiki. I would have never expected to see you here." He growled, his black ears pinned back. Several smoky black tails lashed behind him, making it difficult to tell exactly how many there were.

 "Same here; although I can't say I'm exactly thrilled to see you Alvar." She murmured as she stepped forward, her tails bristling.

 "Are you assisting Miyuki in this idiotic scheme?" Alvar asked, at last stepping away from Miyuki and turning to stand in front of Kiki. She nodded and then he turned to Damion, his gaze calculating. "You?"

 "Yes, and it's not idiotic." Damion spat, feeling his tails lash behind him as he took another step forward. Alvar glanced at Miyuki, his eyes hard. She had returned to staring at the ground, her hair falling around her and obscuring her face.

 "It is." Alvar said quietly before he turned his gaze back to Damion. Damion tensed up, prepared for the worst but was shocked when Alvar stuck out his hand. Hesitantly, Damion took it, feeling the strength in the Kitsune's hand as they shook.

 "Alvar Kukan." He said, his tails still wavering behind him.

 "I'm-" Damion started but Alvar interrupted before he could utter another word.

 "Damion Hawke: seventeen-year-old human male. Studied Kitsune for a few years until the government discovered him." Alvar explained with a wave of his hand as if it was common knowledge.

 Damion opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally said, "Okay. . . that's kind of creepy." Alvar just blinked, his face emotionless.

 "I gather any information I can get on anyone that becomes interested in Kitsune." He answered, turning away as Miyuki finally shuffled over. As he turned Damion caught a glimpse of his tails and was able to count six smoky black tails waving behind him.

 "Now that you've met let's get out of this tunnel." Miyuki murmured, brushing her hair out of her eyes before she turned to Kiki. "Did you get the map?"

 "Not yet; we were busy trying to find you." She snapped, still glaring at Alvar. Damion felt uncomfortable with the tension in the air and was relieved when Kiki grabbed his arm and turned away from Miyuki and Alvar.

 "We can go get it right now if you'll excuse us." Kiki snarled as she stalked away with Damion in tow. He gazed forlornly at Miyuki before he faced ahead and gasped as Alvar stood in their path.

 "You won't be able to get it now." He said, his voice low. Damion narrowed his eyes at him, not sure he liked this guy. He could tell Kiki didn't like him at all by the way her hand tightened on his arm.

 "What are you talking about, you fleabag!" Kiki growled, her voice sounding like an old lady once again.

 I wonder how old Kiki really is. Damion thought as Kiki fought to tame her temper. It was hard to believe that she was older than him but this wasn't her true form, and even as a fox it didn't give away her age.

 "I think you know what I mean," Alvar replied coolly, his gaze locked with Kiki's.

 "You don't mean-" She said as she took another step towards Alvar. Damion, once again, felt completely lost. He heard Miyuki approach and carefully pulled himself out of Kiki's grasp as she and Alvar began arguing.

 "Are you okay Miyuki?" Damion asked, even though he desperately wanted to know what Alvar and Kiki were talking about he needed to make sure Alvar hadn't done anything to her.

 "I'm fine. Alvar found me and decided it was a good time for a lecture. He's so annoying but. . . " Miyuki started, then glared at the ground before she let out a reluctant sigh. "He's always right."

 Damion let out a relieved sigh, glad she was fine. He glanced back at Kiki and Alvar and saw them conversing quietly together. "Do you know what they're talking about?" He asked, feeling anxious to know.

 "Yes," Miyuki said, irritation edging her voice. "In order to find the mask we need the map. Kiki knew where the map was but Alvar told me that it was too late to get it now."

 "What do you mean?" Damion asked, trying to understand this new information. At that moment a crackling sounded in their heads and a voice spoke.

 "The Mori Festival Tournament will begin at eight tomorrow morning. The grand prize this year is Mori's Map. Sign-ups end in one hour."