Post by acclue lockheart on Feb 29, 2008 23:17:06 GMT -5
Chapter XII: Farther and Farther
"Nnnmm" I groaned. A wooden ceiling slowly came into focus in front of me.
"Whoa." I sat straight up. The light coming from the nearby window was blinding. I felt lightheaded and my limbs were still numb. Just what happened?
I turned over to see that I was lying down in a bed. Pushing myself over, I fell to the floor right on my head.
Moaning in frustrated pain, I pushed myself onto my hands and knees, feeling a loud crack as I stretched my arm. "What happened?" I finally said out loud.
Standing up, I saw Hoshi was back on the bed in a feverish sleep. She must have fallen to the forest's magic as well.
I approached the window and drew a breath as I saw our view.
The edge of a town was close by, but beyond that lied an endless field of empty land, tall untamed grasslands everywhere. Wild animals ran abundant along the limitless space.
There was no doubt in my mind, I was home. We had finally arrived on the Great Plains.
But where were the humans? Had they abandoned us once we had crossed? And what was this building?
I quickly forgot these questions when my stomach growled loudly "Ungh, still hungry."
Something was coming, I jumped under the bed as fast as I could, forgetting Hoshi was still there anyway.
The door to the room creaked loudly as it opened, a pair of human legs walked in. They approached the bed slowly. That's when I remembered Hoshi. I had to get rid of this person.
Reaching over to the human's leg as slowly as I could with my claws out, I couldn't believe what I was about to do, and pulled back.
"Hmm, weren't there two in this room?" a female voice came, and was indeed speaking in the language of demons.
I crawled out from my hiding spot on the opposite end of the woman and looked around the bedpost. It was indeed a human that had entered our room.
She turned and saw me "Oh, hey there little guy." she smiled.
I freaked out, diving back under the bed without another word.
"No, wait! Please, I won't hurt you." she said in a comforting voice. I still didn't trust her. I didn't move, even to respond.
She waited for a minute or two, but then said "Alright, but you'll miss out on breakfast." and left the room.
My stomach betrayed me. I rushed to the door and pushed against it. I soon realized that it went the other way and the doorhandle was just above the reach of my hand. It seemed I was reminded of my height every time I entered a human dwelling.
I took a minute to pry the door open with my claws, and peered out of the place. There was a staircase at the end of a hallway here, along with two doors on my left and one door plus an additional corridor to my right.
It seemed safe enough, so I opened the door wide and approached the stairs.
On all fours and leaning down the first step, I could see down to one of the sides. The human woman from before sat at a large table with a human male and an adult male Wolf Demon.
Upon seeing another demon in the house, I relaxed slightly, but I still didn't trust the humans.
Climbing down a staircase without being seen is a difficult task. As of yet, I have never been able to attempt this task successfully.
I backed up a little and focused a hand sign. Just because I lacked my spellbook didn't mean I couldn't change.
Behind a smal puff of smoke, I changed into my animal form.
Staying low to the floor, I quietly padded my way down. After only three steps, my inexperience with man-made stairs showed itself. I tripped and began to tumble my way down, failing at every attempt to catch onto something as a fox.
I hit my back against the bottom of the wall with a yelp and was pushed back to my natural form.
I had everyone's full attention as I fell upside-down from the wall , shouting out in pain.
-----
"I guess I should've explained before." the human woman said, wrapping a bandage over my head "You're lucky you weren't hurt more severely."
I was uncomfortable with her close to me, but hiding was no use anymore. Talking, though, was out of the question. I just stared at the wall from my seat.
"You see, we run this house to help demons crossing the miasma recover." she said "A lot of the time, they're brought down to the other side to be put to work. They escape and another house on the other side helps them get across. Your friends were carrying your mother hidden like we usually do, so we took you in."
"She's not my mother." I said. I even surprised myself when I spoke up then. I was silent again for a bit, and only one question would break it. "Why?"
"Why?" she repeated.
"Why do this?"
"Because it's right."
I looked up at her, expecting more to the answer, but none came.
"Now, would you like something to eat?" she smiled "It's been almost a week since you arrived and we most certainly couldn't have fed you in your sleep."
That drew the line, she was clearly a friend. I nodded to her and smiled.
-----
The food she had given us was amazing. Of course that may have been because I had eaten nothing but raw and undercooked meat for the past few weeks.
I was filled up quicker than I anticipated, given my time at rest, and I was excited to finally return home.
I asked the woman, whose name was Feris, when Hoshi would wake up.
"Well, you woke up a little early because you didn't have as much in you, you're smaller." Feris said "She'll awake in a few hours. Until then, feel free to relax."
-----
I was restless. The thought of my family's fate was too much of a strain to keep me waiting. I wanted to just run down the plains and return right then, but that would leave Hoshi to worry about me. It was almost physically painful waiting for Hoshi to awake.
Clad and Ayaka returned from town eventually and were happy to see me better.
At one point, I wanted to step outside for awhile to enjoy the area, but Feris wouldn't let me leave at the risk of their operation being discovered. I was stranded in the house.
It about noon as I stood on the mattress over Hoshi and she finally blinked her eyes open a crack.
"Ugh, what a night." she muttered.
"Hoshi! You're awake!" I couldn't contain my excitement.
"Hey, d'you hear ringing? My ears hurt..."
"Eh? No..." I smiled "But c'mon! We're only a few hours from my home! We made it to a safehouse on the other side! I'm almost home Hoshi!"
She didn't seem as happy as I was though...
"Yeah..." she looked down away from me "You'll be back with your parents and..."
Not wanting to remind myself even more that my family may not be there, or even alive anymore, I waited for a moment, then said "Hoshi... what's wrong?"
I waited, but she didn't say anything. I thought about it and said "You know... You could probably come stay with us... Until your forest is safe I mean..."
She turned back to look at me zand smiled "Thanks kid."
-----
The five of us stood at the front door of the house, Feris at the front.
"<Well, I guess this is where we part ways then?>" Hoshi asked Clad and Ayaka.
"<No, not at all>" Ayaka said "<I will be going to the mountains to the North, your village is right along the path.>"
We looked at Clad, and he shrugged "<I go where the wind takes me.>"
"<Huh, that stay would have been a little easier on me if I knew all of you spoke Mantle>" Feris laughed "<Just make sure no one sees you leave, we need to stay secret, the whole thing will come down if something happens. Well, this is it. It has been nice having you here, but I hope we do not have to meet again. I wish you good luck.>" she clicked the door open a crack, then all the way and said "<Okay... Go now!>"
-----
It was somewhat hard to believe, but we got away from the town without any difficulty. Before long, we were all enjoying ourselves as usual on the road.
I was trying to perfect my Mantle with the others, and that kept us occupied.
The trip was shorter than I anticipated. The last month or so of travel had brought me so many problems and changed my life forever. It was just so hard to believe that it was over.
The mountains that formed the valley were in sight over the final hill on the path. I ran forward ahead of the group in an ecstatic daze.
As I peaked the hill and began down toward my home, I saw something that made me stop dead in my tracks.
I felt the others come up behind me and halt with me.
On the ground, a Fox Demon, a woman, lied on the ground. She was cut clean in half at the waist. She was pale and rotting from exposure to the elements in death, and her eyes had a look of terror in them.
I fell to my knees in front of the old corpse. I cried out quietly onto her body with no celebration of my arrival home.
And the reality of the situation finally hit me. I was the last of my kind. All hope for us was gone. The end had finally come for us...
The body... was my mother's...
- End Part 1 -
"Nnnmm" I groaned. A wooden ceiling slowly came into focus in front of me.
"Whoa." I sat straight up. The light coming from the nearby window was blinding. I felt lightheaded and my limbs were still numb. Just what happened?
I turned over to see that I was lying down in a bed. Pushing myself over, I fell to the floor right on my head.
Moaning in frustrated pain, I pushed myself onto my hands and knees, feeling a loud crack as I stretched my arm. "What happened?" I finally said out loud.
Standing up, I saw Hoshi was back on the bed in a feverish sleep. She must have fallen to the forest's magic as well.
I approached the window and drew a breath as I saw our view.
The edge of a town was close by, but beyond that lied an endless field of empty land, tall untamed grasslands everywhere. Wild animals ran abundant along the limitless space.
There was no doubt in my mind, I was home. We had finally arrived on the Great Plains.
But where were the humans? Had they abandoned us once we had crossed? And what was this building?
I quickly forgot these questions when my stomach growled loudly "Ungh, still hungry."
Something was coming, I jumped under the bed as fast as I could, forgetting Hoshi was still there anyway.
The door to the room creaked loudly as it opened, a pair of human legs walked in. They approached the bed slowly. That's when I remembered Hoshi. I had to get rid of this person.
Reaching over to the human's leg as slowly as I could with my claws out, I couldn't believe what I was about to do, and pulled back.
"Hmm, weren't there two in this room?" a female voice came, and was indeed speaking in the language of demons.
I crawled out from my hiding spot on the opposite end of the woman and looked around the bedpost. It was indeed a human that had entered our room.
She turned and saw me "Oh, hey there little guy." she smiled.
I freaked out, diving back under the bed without another word.
"No, wait! Please, I won't hurt you." she said in a comforting voice. I still didn't trust her. I didn't move, even to respond.
She waited for a minute or two, but then said "Alright, but you'll miss out on breakfast." and left the room.
My stomach betrayed me. I rushed to the door and pushed against it. I soon realized that it went the other way and the doorhandle was just above the reach of my hand. It seemed I was reminded of my height every time I entered a human dwelling.
I took a minute to pry the door open with my claws, and peered out of the place. There was a staircase at the end of a hallway here, along with two doors on my left and one door plus an additional corridor to my right.
It seemed safe enough, so I opened the door wide and approached the stairs.
On all fours and leaning down the first step, I could see down to one of the sides. The human woman from before sat at a large table with a human male and an adult male Wolf Demon.
Upon seeing another demon in the house, I relaxed slightly, but I still didn't trust the humans.
Climbing down a staircase without being seen is a difficult task. As of yet, I have never been able to attempt this task successfully.
I backed up a little and focused a hand sign. Just because I lacked my spellbook didn't mean I couldn't change.
Behind a smal puff of smoke, I changed into my animal form.
Staying low to the floor, I quietly padded my way down. After only three steps, my inexperience with man-made stairs showed itself. I tripped and began to tumble my way down, failing at every attempt to catch onto something as a fox.
I hit my back against the bottom of the wall with a yelp and was pushed back to my natural form.
I had everyone's full attention as I fell upside-down from the wall , shouting out in pain.
-----
"I guess I should've explained before." the human woman said, wrapping a bandage over my head "You're lucky you weren't hurt more severely."
I was uncomfortable with her close to me, but hiding was no use anymore. Talking, though, was out of the question. I just stared at the wall from my seat.
"You see, we run this house to help demons crossing the miasma recover." she said "A lot of the time, they're brought down to the other side to be put to work. They escape and another house on the other side helps them get across. Your friends were carrying your mother hidden like we usually do, so we took you in."
"She's not my mother." I said. I even surprised myself when I spoke up then. I was silent again for a bit, and only one question would break it. "Why?"
"Why?" she repeated.
"Why do this?"
"Because it's right."
I looked up at her, expecting more to the answer, but none came.
"Now, would you like something to eat?" she smiled "It's been almost a week since you arrived and we most certainly couldn't have fed you in your sleep."
That drew the line, she was clearly a friend. I nodded to her and smiled.
-----
The food she had given us was amazing. Of course that may have been because I had eaten nothing but raw and undercooked meat for the past few weeks.
I was filled up quicker than I anticipated, given my time at rest, and I was excited to finally return home.
I asked the woman, whose name was Feris, when Hoshi would wake up.
"Well, you woke up a little early because you didn't have as much in you, you're smaller." Feris said "She'll awake in a few hours. Until then, feel free to relax."
-----
I was restless. The thought of my family's fate was too much of a strain to keep me waiting. I wanted to just run down the plains and return right then, but that would leave Hoshi to worry about me. It was almost physically painful waiting for Hoshi to awake.
Clad and Ayaka returned from town eventually and were happy to see me better.
At one point, I wanted to step outside for awhile to enjoy the area, but Feris wouldn't let me leave at the risk of their operation being discovered. I was stranded in the house.
It about noon as I stood on the mattress over Hoshi and she finally blinked her eyes open a crack.
"Ugh, what a night." she muttered.
"Hoshi! You're awake!" I couldn't contain my excitement.
"Hey, d'you hear ringing? My ears hurt..."
"Eh? No..." I smiled "But c'mon! We're only a few hours from my home! We made it to a safehouse on the other side! I'm almost home Hoshi!"
She didn't seem as happy as I was though...
"Yeah..." she looked down away from me "You'll be back with your parents and..."
Not wanting to remind myself even more that my family may not be there, or even alive anymore, I waited for a moment, then said "Hoshi... what's wrong?"
I waited, but she didn't say anything. I thought about it and said "You know... You could probably come stay with us... Until your forest is safe I mean..."
She turned back to look at me zand smiled "Thanks kid."
-----
The five of us stood at the front door of the house, Feris at the front.
"<Well, I guess this is where we part ways then?>" Hoshi asked Clad and Ayaka.
"<No, not at all>" Ayaka said "<I will be going to the mountains to the North, your village is right along the path.>"
We looked at Clad, and he shrugged "<I go where the wind takes me.>"
"<Huh, that stay would have been a little easier on me if I knew all of you spoke Mantle>" Feris laughed "<Just make sure no one sees you leave, we need to stay secret, the whole thing will come down if something happens. Well, this is it. It has been nice having you here, but I hope we do not have to meet again. I wish you good luck.>" she clicked the door open a crack, then all the way and said "<Okay... Go now!>"
-----
It was somewhat hard to believe, but we got away from the town without any difficulty. Before long, we were all enjoying ourselves as usual on the road.
I was trying to perfect my Mantle with the others, and that kept us occupied.
The trip was shorter than I anticipated. The last month or so of travel had brought me so many problems and changed my life forever. It was just so hard to believe that it was over.
The mountains that formed the valley were in sight over the final hill on the path. I ran forward ahead of the group in an ecstatic daze.
As I peaked the hill and began down toward my home, I saw something that made me stop dead in my tracks.
I felt the others come up behind me and halt with me.
On the ground, a Fox Demon, a woman, lied on the ground. She was cut clean in half at the waist. She was pale and rotting from exposure to the elements in death, and her eyes had a look of terror in them.
I fell to my knees in front of the old corpse. I cried out quietly onto her body with no celebration of my arrival home.
And the reality of the situation finally hit me. I was the last of my kind. All hope for us was gone. The end had finally come for us...
The body... was my mother's...
- End Part 1 -
