Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 14 – Why Do You Care About Me So Much?

Raynelle continued running across the square until she was right in front of the temple, where she was stopped by the crowd of people outside.

“Gods… how am I supposed to get you in there?…” Raynelle said as she looked towards the entrance, “I could just push through them, but…”

She looked down at me for a moment, right as a wave of pain spread over my body again, causing all my muscles to tense up.

“I just… can’t risk hurting you…”

Raynelle looked around frantically while continuing to mutter to herself, trying to figure out what she could do.

It hurts…

…

It really hurts…

…

It was only gradual, but the pain was getting worse; it felt like my body was trying to tear itself apart with each wave of pain that made its way through my body.

But, without warning, the pain just started to go away. It didn’t completely vanish, but it became bearable.

What… happened?…

I tried to force myself up to get a better view of what was going on, but as I did, something pushed down on my chest, stopping me from moving. Looking down, I saw that someone had placed their hand on my chest and that there was a soft glow coming where they were touching me.

I followed the person’s arm to see who they were, but all I could see was a person in a pure white robe with a hood covering their face.

Who?!

Without thinking, I started to move one of my arms in an attempt to get Raynelle’s attention. But as soon as I did, the person lifted their hood slightly, revealing their face. They were a woman with two golden eyes that were glowing softly, each with a white ring inside of the iris that glowed ever so slightly brighter.

She simply put one finger up to her lips while smiling slightly.

Why should I trust you?

Ignoring what the woman wanted, I tried to get Raynelle’s attention again, although it didn’t seem necessary, as Raynelle suddenly jerked me back while also taking a step away from the woman.

“Who are you?!” Raynelle shouted before looking down at me and quickly adjusting my cloak to make sure I was still hidden.

“Whoa, please calm down,” The woman held her hands up in front of her, “I already know what’s going on… I also know you really don’t want to cause a scene here.”

Looking around, a few people had already turned to look at what was going on, although they quickly lost interest as Raynelle let a sigh to help herself calm down a bit.

“But, why should I trust you?” Raynelle said as she pulled me closer to her chest.

“ I… uh… wasn’t told that part…”

Raynelle just silently stared back at the woman while occasionally glancing down at me.

She did help me…

…

It didn’t matter how either of us felt; whatever she did to me made the pain go away, not that Raynelle knew that.

…

“Oh, I know! This usually works,” the woman suddenly blurted out as she lifted her hood just enough so that Raynelle could see her eyes, “So?… Is that good enough?”

…

“No! Of course not!” Raynelle suddenly shouted, “It’s your fault she’s even in this situation.”

Huh?

…

But I’ve never seen her before…

What did she do?

“Whoa, please calm down. That’s just a… misunderstanding?… Yeah, a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding!” Raynelle’s arms tensed around me, “Can you really look at this child right now and just say everything that has happened to her was a misunderstanding?!”

“I understand, just… can we talk about this inside,” The woman said, backing away from Raynelle while pointing at the temple, “I would also not like to draw attention to myself.”

It was silent for a moment, and then Raynelle looked at me again, although this time, she showed me a pained face. It was clear that she was considering the offer if only to get into the temple.

…

She did help me…

…

As I was thinking about my options, another wave of pain pulsed across my body, stopping any rational thoughts from forming in my mind.

It’s too much!

I don’t care anymore!

Despite the pain I was in, I forced myself to nod at Raynelle.

“Huh? Are you sure?” Raynelle said, surprised.

I nodded again, tears welling up in my eyes once again.

I just want it to be over!

Raynelle bit her lip before eventually responding, “Fine…”

“Great, just… follow me!” The woman immediately started walking away.

“Wait!… I thought you said we were going to talk in the temple?”

“Um… Yes?” The woman said, seeming genuinely surprised by the question.

“Then where are you going? The temple is over there,” Raynelle said, gesturing towards the temple's entrance.

“What? You want to try to get through all of them?” The woman asked.

“I know you could easily get us through there.”

“I already told you. I don’t want to draw attention to myself.” The woman kept on walking away, “I know another way in… it’s better… trust me.”

Raynelle hesitated for a moment, but despite her worries, she quickly decided to follow the woman as she walked around the back of the temple.

The woman abruptly stopped in front of the temple’s rear wall before looking around the area to see if anyone was watching us.

“Alright… Coast is clear.”

She then gently knocked on the wall in some kind of pattern.

…

Nothing happened.

…

“I can’t be dealing with this right now,” Raynelle blurted out as she turned away, getting ready to leave. But right as she did, a section of the wall slowly sank into the ground, revealing a passage into the temple.

“What did I tell you? I knew another way in… and it’s a pretty cool one if I don’t say so myself.”

“…”

“…”

“Really, no reaction? From either of you?… Ah, whatever, we’ve got something more important to tend to first.”

The woman walked into the passage, with Raynelle following close behind. It didn’t take long for us to exit the passage and enter a large white room.

As soon as we entered, a ball of light went up next to the woman’s ear.

“Yeah, yeah. I understand. Just let me work my magic first,” The woman said, waving her hand at the ball of light.

…

What have I gotten myself into?…

“Alright then… just lay her down here, and I’ll figure out what’s going on, although I already have a good guess from what I’ve heard.”

Raynelle did as the woman said and laid me down on top of a table.

“I’m right here, okay?” Raynelle said, holding onto my hand.

The woman immediately came up right next to me and placed her hands on my chest, and they started to glow with the same light from before.

Almost immediately, the pain that I felt started to vanish and my muscles finally began to relax.

Neither of them said anything, although I could see Raynelle looking on with worry out of the corner of my eye.

Why do you care about me so much?

…

While I was busy contemplating Raynelle’s intentions, the pain ended up completely disappearing, as if nothing was wrong in the first place.

“Alright… she should be good… for a while at least,” The woman said as she wiped her brow.

“So, what was it?!” Raynelle shouted, “What was it?!”

“Calm down, okay? It wasn’t anything serious.” The woman said as she grabbed onto Raynelle’s wrist, her hand gently glowing, “She was just going through some growing pains… very bad growing pains, but it was just growing pains nonetheless.”

Raynelle calmed down dramatically after hearing that, but I don’t know if that was because of what she said or whatever magic she was using.

“That’s it?… That’s all it was?” Raynelle said, audibly relieved.

“Yeah, that’s it. I’m sure you noticed she’s a little small for her age… because she’s started eating well recently, her body has just decided… ‘Let’s grow all at once,’… which isn’t too comfortable… although, even considering that… hers were particularly rough.”

“Thank the gods,” Raynelle said, falling into one of the chairs lining the room and burying her face in her hands.

“Before you relax too much, we’re not quite done yet,” The woman said as she sat down next to Raynelle, “She’ll probably end up experiencing them a few more times before she’s finished growing, so you might need to come back over here every so often.”

“That’s fine…” Raynelle responded, still holding her head in her hands, “That’s fine, I can do that.”

“Alright, then, while I discuss how we can set that up with you, I actually have something for the little fox to do.”

…

For me?

“You see that room over there,” the woman pointed to a door in the corner of the room, “Just go in there. There’s someone who really wants to meet you.”

What?

Who?

Do I have to?

Raynelle lifted her head out of her hands, seemingly about to say something, but the woman simply pointed to her eyes, and then Raynelle remained silent.

I looked over at Raynelle, confused at what just happened, but she just nodded at me.

“Don’t worry about things so much. I’m just going to talk about some stuff for adults to worry about with your…  guardian?… friend?… mother?… ah, whatever, you know what I mean. You can go have some fun,” The woman smiled at me, “I can guarantee, she’s quite nice.”

…

She hasn’t done anything bad to me yet…

…

I got up off the table and walked over to the door, looking back at the two of them just in case this was something that they had planned together, but they were just talking to each other, already ignoring me.

When I opened the door all that I could see was an empty room.

…

Where is the person?

…

Maybe this is for the better…

I walked into the room, slowly closing the door behind me while keeping my hand on the handle and my foot in the way just in case someone was going to jump out at me. But before I could even fully close the door, my vision went white.

…

What!

I knew it was a trap!

…

“Oh, do go tell my sister that she needs to get ready.”

A woman’s voice that I didn’t recognise came out of nowhere.

What?!

Who are you?!

I looked around, trying to find where the voice came from, but no matter where I looked, all I could see was a white void.

“This will be fun. I get to meet you first.”

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