Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 8 – An Unfamiliar Ceiling

It doesn’t hurt.

…

It doesn’t hurt at all.

I couldn’t even remember the last time my body didn’t ache; my injuries have never had the time to heal fully.

My eyelids slowly forced themselves open. Ever since I woke up in this world, my tail was always the first thing I saw in the morning, but today, I was greeted by an unfamiliar wooden ceiling instead.

It was then that a wave of panic spread over me. I quickly sat up and reached behind me to check that my one source of comfort hadn’t been taken away from me.

It’s still there.

The panic washed away just as quickly as it came over me. Once I had calmed down enough, I started to take in my surroundings. I was inside a room, alone, with a single window and a small bed tucked in the corner on which I was sitting. The bed was surprisingly soft, but that might just be because I’m used to sleeping on the floor.

On the opposite side of the room, there was a door which had been left slightly ajar. Through the gap, I caught sight of a person with a purple eye and black hair, but as soon as I made eye contact with them, they ran away.

Who?!

Panic started setting in again. I tried to get up, hoping to be able to get out through the window, but before I was even able to get off of the bed, the door flew open.

My body reacted instinctively; before I could process anything else, I had my back up against the corner of the room while still on top of the bed, with my makeshift scarf pulled up over my mouth and my shadow covering my body.

…

“Whoa, calm down. I ain’t gonna do anything to you.”

…

In the doorway stood a tall woman with bright blue eyes and purple hair that reached down to her shoulders. What stood out the most about her was her size; she couldn’t have been any shorter than six feet tall. On top of that, it was clear that her body had been well-trained just by looking at her forearms as she held her hands out in front of her with her palms facing towards me.

“You bumped into us yesterday, okay? I just took you to the inn with us, alright?”

“…”

What’s going on?!

Did she abduct me after I passed out yesterday?

“I’m Raynelle, but you can just call me Nellie.”

“…”

When is she going to take me to that Baron?

“So… Do you have something I should call you?”

“…”

“Not one for talking, eh?”

Raynelle then let out an exaggerated sigh, finally dropping her arms.

I turned and started eyeing up the window again. It would be impossible for me to go through the door with her standing in the doorway, but I didn’t know if I would be able to make it out of the window before she could get to me.

Before I could build up the courage to try and escape a new voice came from behind Raynelle.

“I’ve brought the bread!”

Behind Raynelle was a girl who was trying to squeeze her way into the room. The girl had purple eyes and black hair. She was probably the person who was watching me through the door when I woke up.

“Ava! Wait a minute!”

Raynelle tried to stop the girl, but she managed to slip past her anyway, losing her cloak in the process, which revealed two black feathered wings that sprouted from her back. She quickly made her way towards me, until she was right up against the side of the bed.

“Hi there! My name’s Ava, what’s yours?”

“…”

I just stared back at her in silence, occasionally glancing at the loaf of bread she held in her hand.

Another exaggerated sigh came from Raynelle, “Sorry about that. That’s Ava, she’s the one who healed you up after we brought you here. She’s a bit of a handful but she means you no harm”

“Come on mom, I’m not that bad!”

What am I supposed to do here?

“Okay then, whatever you say. Now, how about you give the little fox the bread you’ve been holding on to. Bit rude to wave food in front of them, hey?”

“Oh,” Ava’s face turned a bright shade of red as she placed the loaf of bread on the bed in front of me.

“…”

“Alright now Ava, give the girl some space.”

Ava did as she was told and moved next to Raynelle.

That looks good…

No matter what anyone says, it’s hard to turn down food when you’re hungry.

“…”

It’s probably fine… Right?

I slowly reached my hand towards the bread while looking directly at Raynelle and Ava just in case they tried something.

Once my hand was on the bread I immediately jerked back and brought it towards me.

Nothing happened.

Pulling my scarf down I brought the bread up to my mouth and took a bite, still keeping my eyes on those two.

…

It’s soft.

…

Bread could be soft?

I had forgotten what fresh bread tasted like and couldn’t help myself from finishing the whole loaf as quickly as possible. At some point while I was eating my shadow retracted until it just covered my hair and tail.

The whole time the other two people in the room just looked on in silence.

“…”

“So, that good huh?” Raynelle piped up, breaking the silence.

“…”

“Still no talking then,” Raynelle said letting out yet another exaggerated sigh, “Well, we’ve got to call you some-”

“Chloe!” Ava interrupted coming up next to the bed again.

“…”

“Not good enough?… Then… Lila!”

“…”

Does she think she can just guess my name? How are you going to do that if even I don’t know my name?

“Now now, I already told you to give the girl some space.” Raynelle said as she placed her hand on Ava’s shoulder, gently pulling her back.

“But she won’t talk, so we have to try something.”

“I get that, but you can’t just start shouting random names at her.”

“But that’s what you did to me…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Do I… need to step in here?

“*Cough* anyway, we do need to come up with something to call this little… kit? Oh, I don’t know. I don’t remember when a kitsune stops being called a kit.” Raynelle said, clearly trying to move past the awkward silence.

Every time she said the word kit my ears twitched, so I quickly reached up to cover them as soon as I noticed. Unfortunately, it seemed that I was too late as Raynelle let out a quiet giggle.

“So, Kit then?” Raynelle asked.

“…”

My mind was sent back to the fox from my dream.

They were the only one who called me that…

“Ahhh, I guess we’ll just go with Kit until you tell us your name.”

“KIT!” Ava lurched towards me.

However, before she was able to grab me my instincts kicked in and I jumped off the bed.

Not again.

“AVA!” Raynelle shouted, “Come on girl!”

“…Sorry…” Ava sheepishly let out, looking dejected.

“Like I said, she’s a handful. She’s just… excited?” Raynelle said as she crouched down to my level.

“…”

Then Raynelle just stared at me for a moment, probably hoping for something to change. I just stared back at her in response. It was clear that I was the more determined of the two of us as she decided to speak up again.

“What can I do to get you to talk? Or are you just not able to?”

“…”

Raynelle planted her forehead firmly in her palm, “I don’t know what kind of answer I was even expecting.”

Instead of trying to push me any further she just stood up, gesturing for Ava.

“Alright, I’m sorry to do this to you-”

My heart dropped instantly.

I knew it!

I started to turn towards the window, ready to make my escape.

“-but, I’ve got to leave you here with Ava for a bit.”

Huh?

My legs froze as I tried to process what Raynelle just said.

That’s… it?

What’s the catch?

I could only imagine what my confused expression looked like to Raynelle, but whatever it looked like she just continued talking.

“I’ve got to head out and buy some things now that you’re here.”

“…”

“We good?… I’ll take that as a yes. Ava, be good to Kit, no more jumping at them.”

“No problem.” Ava said, seemingly already over getting scolded.

Raynelle shot a sceptical look towards Ava, but continued heading out anyway.

“I’ll be back before dinner… Probably.”

With that Raynelle went out the door, leaving just me and Ava in the room.

I could just escape now.

Ava does look to be a bit older than I am right now, but only by one or two years at most. I could probably slip past her and get back to the temple.

…

But, maybe not.

…

The food is good.

…

I guess I can stay… for a bit.

…

Can I at least have that much?…

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