[Mkguild] "To Steal a Soul" -- Part 7 of 8

[Kendo Virmir]

Things are winding down to an end.  This part has been an absolute
pleasure to write.  Hope you enjoy!

And at last, some cameos from characters that aren't mine. :)

----

"To Steal a Soul"
Part 7



Trying to move stealthily through the woods, away from armies of evil
animated plants and dirt, was made nigh impossible with a little girl
in tow...

"Do you have more animal friends?"

Animal "friends"...? Ugh...  "I know of other animal people..."

Blast it, I'd take the hyena and the pig man bickering any day...  At
least I could tune them out.

"What are we going to do with... her?"  I motioned to Emile when she
became distracted by a flurry of falling leaves.

"You mean you don't have a plan?  You're the one that picked her up,"
Vincent grumbled with his arms folded.

Right.  Obviously I decided this morning I desired the company of an
overly talkative little brat and went into the forest in search of
one.

"We'll have to take her the keep," Vale replied.  "What else can we
do?  There were a lot of..." she glanced back at the girl, carefully
choosing her words, "... children affected by the Yule Attack put in a
similar situation, so there are plenty of facilities set up to take
care of her."

I looked back at Emile, who had finally let go of my hand.  She
marched at my side swinging her arms in over-exaggerated sweeps like a
solider, blissfully ignorant of what horrible things might have
happened to her parents... or her entire village for that matter.  All
she cared about was that she was going on an "adventure" with her new
"animal friends".

Partially because I had lied to her.

"Are we sure we want to subject her to the curses?"

"What's wrong with the curses?" Vincent glowered over me.  A fair
percentage of Keepers, particularly animal morphs, took immense pride
in their conditions.  Some went so far as to take any mention of their
adversity as a personal insult.  What a bunch of morons.

"The curse doesn't affect children," Vale interjected, "and we've been
on improving terms with the towns to the north.  It would probably be
a temporary stay.  We may be able to find her parents even, if we put
the word out."

"Assuming we actually are north of the keep."

I felt a tugging on my tail and I stopped short, hackles standing on
end.  "Where are we going?" Emile asked as she pulled on it, "Mommy
says there's monsters down south..."

"Monsters, huh?" Vincent said distastefully.

Vale smiled. "I think she knows where we are then."  Vale kneeled and
I clenched my teeth as the girl began hugging my tail.  "Do you know
where these 'monsters' live?"

Emile nodded and pressed the tip of my tail to her cheek while I
desperately fought back a growl. "In a big castle..."

Vale stood and nodded at Vincent, who just rolled his eyes.  "That
settles it, then," she said.

Vincent unfolded his arms and held them wide.  "There's a freaking
haunted forest northeast of the Keep, little green men infesting the
Giantdowns, and a megalomaniacal wizard trying to take over the world
up north.  And we're the ones that get labeled as 'monsters'..."

Vale chuckled.  "That's humanity for you," she said, wagging her tail.

The girl released me and began giggling for some reason.  We continued
on, but then the dhole and hyena gave me curious glances, fighting
back smiles.  Even the hyena's dour mood shifted.

"What?"

I turned to look at Emile, whose silky brown hair flowed down her
shoulders.  I could have sworn she had been wearing a ponytail up
until then.

"That's not a bad look for you, Virmir."  Vincent gibed.

"Huh?"  I looked at Vale, but she just covered her mouth.

I flicked my tail indignantly and felt a weight on it.  Flipping my
robe to one side, I curled it around front and grabbed it, finding a
bright green ribbon tied around the tip.

"Your tail's very pretty, Mr. Fox," Emile beamed.

Vincent burst out in obnoxious laughter.

I pinched my sinuses.  Blast it!  Would this infernal patrol never end?

----

It was like a nightmare.  A horrible, never-ending walk through an
abysmal forest.  Blast it, how far from the Keep could we possibly
have gone?  We trudged southward all day, from daybreak to nightfall.
Vale managed to kill one more rabbit, and the thing split four ways
was all we ate for the day.  I was utterly exhausted by the time the
sun began to set.  By the gods, what I would not give for my bed...

Emile remained enraptured most of the trip, but could take no more by
the end of the day and Vincent had to carry her upon his back.  She
was afraid of the hyena man up until then, but quickly warmed up to
him after a few minutes of riding.  I took secret delight in watching
him scowl as she played with his ears as she rode upon his back.

And then I envied her when she fell asleep.  She was a real child, and
no one thought anything of carrying her.  I, on the other hand, could
never allow myself to be carried like that, despite loosing my
adulthood to the curse.  I remembered my father carrying me.  It felt
so safe... so comforting...  I was so tired.  I wished he would pick
me up... give me a turn...

What in blazes was I thinking?  I was becoming delirious in my
exhaustion, blast it...

We decided to continue into the night as long as possible, hoping that
that the forests would open and we would see the faint glimmer of
Metamor torches in the distance.  "Just one more ridge..." Vale said
each time.  I agreed for a while, but blast it, enough was enough.

"Who goes there?"

We froze.  My heart sunk at the gravely voice.  I had no energy left
to defend myself, let alone the child and two morons with swords.

But then I realized the plant-things or lutins don't ask before attacking.

"Glenners," Vincent whispered, his ears angled at the voice.  They
were good.  Downwind and entirely hidden.  I wouldn't have noticed the
dark form knocking an arrow had he not announced his presence.

"Vale Restault and her squad," our leader replied.  "Unit 41 of
Metamor, Regular Patrol."

"Regular?  From Metamor?"  A lithe figure slinked from behind a bush
and stepped into the moonlight.  A ferret or something wearing green.
"You guys lost?"  A chuckle from a number of invisible sources
emanated from the darkness.

"Yes.  One of our party is dead.  Another missing."

That shut them up.

Vale pointed to the sleeping figure on Vincent's back. "And we have a
survivor from a razed village up north.  We've quite a bit to
report..."

The ferret nodded, scratching the fur under his muzzle.  "Right.
We'll take you to the Glen.  I'm sure we can get a transport for you
by the morning, or at least a night's rest."

A night's rest... Back amongst civilization...  We were saved!

Of course, "civilization" was a stretch of the word...

Glen Avery was nothing more than a collection of treehouses.
Treehouses!  Blast it!

I enjoy trees dearly, but I needed four walls, a bed, clean linens and
a glowing hearth, not some airy shack banged together in between two
branches.  Colossal trees surrounded us, the tops impossible to see in
the darkness even with faint lights above, glowing from scattered
windows.  A good number of the trunks had doors at ground level,
suggesting each had been hollowed out and converted into a sort of
natural house.  How they could do that without killing the tree was
beyond me.  The rest of the dwellings seemed to be built into
hillsides and dug out of caverns in the rocks, and this included the
inn.  Blast it.  Not a single proper building in sight.  What sort of
nature-tuned back-water hick town was this?

Our room in the inn was fairly cozy.  For a dirty hole in the ground
at least.  Vale separated from the group to talk with some badger man
who seemed quite irritated to be up at this hour, likely the
authoritative figure for the local scouts, leaving the three of us to
explore our room for the night.  Of course the room only had two beds,
which went to the ladies by default... Blast it again... I did not
look forward to sleeping on the floor like a dog.  Just one more
night, I told myself.

I took a seat at the creaky wooden table in front of the woefully
inadequate hearth, slipping my tail through the hole in the chair.  We
had decided to wait for Vale to finish her official business before
going to bed, and I rested my elbows on the table, massaging my eyes,
muzzle, and forehead with my fingertips.  I was unbelievably sore.  My
child-like body simply could not handle the exertion of trudging
through forests and caves for two days straight.  Forget Vale, I was
going to sleep right there.  Never mind the embarrassment of
regressing into a fox kit before their eyes.  I didn't care anymore.

Emile, having had quite the pleasant nap, was quite refreshed and
energetic on the other hand.  Oh, gods...  By some stroke of luck (or
misfortune), the previous occupants had left a half-full ink well, a
few strips of parchment, and a quill at the table.  The girl
delightedly took up the writing utensils and began scribbling things
on the paper, smearing black ink over her hands and dress.  She was
occupied, at least.

Vincent sat on one of the beds and watched us.  I paid him no mind,
and we all sat in silence for several moments.  By the time I did
glance in his direction, he had removed the heaver components of his
armor and sat there picking at his claws with that ornate dagger of
his.  His face was contorted in that same wry grin he wore earlier
when he started prying me with questions about the species of my
curse.

"So, Virmir... where are you from?"

Blast it...  I hated idle banter with a passion.  Seriously, why is it
impossible for two humans to sit and leave each other in piece?

"West," I waved him off, turning and pretending to be interested in
what Emile was scribbling.  She had two stick figures drawn.  One in a
dress and one with triangle ears and a bushy tail. "... across the
ocean."

"Across the ocean, huh?"  His voice carried a hint of sarcasm. "Where?"

"Valandair."

He nodded, pretending to understand.  He sat there for a moment before
finally asking.  "Where's that?  Whales?"

I sighed. "Fan Shoar."

His ears stood on end.  "THAT far?"

"I did say across the ocean..."

"You speak pretty good Common, for a foreigner."

It never ceased to amuse me how the Suielish speaking nations simply
referred to their language as "Common".  True, it was a common
language, and even a required one at the Academy, but to call it that
was blatantly arrogant.

"Or is it your first language?"  He continued the thought.

"Tou est vrailen un sanslux-manhui," I rolled off my tongue in
Landairish.  He gave me a blank stare and I grinned.  "My native
tongue.  Just a wish of good luck."  Actually I said, 'You are a
complete moron.'

Someone rapped softly at the door at that moment.  Vincent went to
check and I returned to rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I heard you have injured children...  I'm a healer, and I'd like to
check up on them."  A woman's voice.  Definitely not Vale.

Injured children?  I looked up as Vincent backed away from the door,
allowing her entry.  "Uh... I don't think so."

In the doorway stood a rusty and gray furred vixen, who smiled upon
turning her dark eyes down upon Emile and me.

"Well, hello there!"

"Hello!" Emile beamed, waving the inky quill through the air.  "Are
you a fox too?"

"Uh huh!"  She responded in a child-alluring voice, kneeling down next
to the girl as her tail wagged. "I'm Jo, what's your name?"

"Emile!"

"Oh, that's a lovely name.  So Emile, how do you feel?  Does anything hurt?"

"Nuh-uh.  Mr. Fox took real good care of me!"

"Oh, he did?"

I couldn't stop staring at her face, which bore a striking resemblance
to the one I saw whenever I gazed into the mirror.  Her muzzle and
ears were nearly identical to mine.  And her tail had a similar black
stripe edging from the tip and fading across the top, though mine was
more pronounced. Was that what I was?  A gray fox?  I completely
lacked the russet coloration that she wore on her flanks, though.

"And how about you?  What's your name?"

I rolled my eyes as she stooped in front of me.  "Virmir..." I grumbled.

"Oh, that's a---"

"I'm twenty-four."

Her ears perked.  "Oh... sorry...  There are a lot of children here
born as animals, so I just assumed..."

"Pay it no mind."  I waved my arm.

"But you're still injured.  Let me dress that for you."

Huh?  Oh blast, my left arm...  I had completely forgotten about the
plant-thing nicking me the previous day. I winced as she pulled back
my sleeve, revealing matted, blood-dried fur.

"Its fine."

"No it's not.  If that gets infected you'll lose it," she said as if
reciting a line from memory.  She opened her pack and proceeded to
smear some vile stinging paste over it.  I clenched my teeth as my
entire arm burned.

"You can take it.  Or are you not twenty-four right now?"

I folded my ears and shot her the vilest glance possible, which only
made her chuckle.  Blasted cocky healers...

After wrapping it in a white cloth she stood.  "Make sure to have Coe
look at it tomorrow when you return to the Keep." Yeah, yeah.  I
nodded and she turned to Vincent, who was leaning over on the bed
looking dreamy-eyed.

"And how about you?"

The hyena shot up straight. "Well, actually..." he began rubbing his
shoulder, moving his arm in a circle, "... my arm is kinda sore..."

She didn't bother getting with two feet of him, instead giving him a
quick glance.  "You're fine."   His mouth dropped.  She turned and
waved to Emile.  "Bye, Emile."

"Bye bye, Jo!"

Vincent punched the pillow as she walked out the door.

----

Emile begged me to sleep in the bed with her, citing a fear of
"monsters".  It was certainly large enough for two children, or rather
a half-grown fox and a child, but I couldn't do it.  It just didn't
feel right.  So I laid out my grandfather's robe and my cloak in the
space between her bed and the wall and promised her I wouldn't move
from that spot all night.  I planed on waiting until the lantern was
extinguished before disrobing and turning back into an animal.

Much to my surprise, Vale approached me when Vincent was out of
earshot and offered to switch places, noting how awful I looked.
Obviously I deserved the bed a lot more than her, but I refused.
Blasted morals...  She re-wrapped the bandage the healer placed on my
arm after I shrunk into a fox, though.  Embarrassing... if only I
could keep my half-human form when I slept once more. The ground was
wretchedly cold and hard, but that didn't keep me from curling into a
ball and falling asleep almost instantly.

I awoke before dawn feeling much warmer and more comfortable than when
I went to sleep.  I was sprawled on my side, paws stretched before me
and a human arm wrapped around my side and curling under my chest...
Blast it!  How did she do that?  Emile had somehow scooped me off of
the floor while I slept, dragged me into her bed, and clamped me in
her death-grip like some stuffed animal. I became dead to the world
when I slept as a full fox, and that frightened me. I struggled, but
the sleeping girl only whimpered and held tighter.

Well, okay... maybe it wasn't that bad.  I supposed playing along for
the remainder of the night would not kill me...  She wined once more
and squeezed.  Perhaps she was having a bad dream?  I could feel her
heart beat against my back and her soft breaths against my ear.
Oddly, I felt safe and comforted by this...

The child loved me for no reason other than that I was a fox.  Well,
destroying that plant monster single handedly with a flash of light
from my palm might also had had something to do with it.  I wasn't
sure what to make of this.  Should I tell her I wasn't really her
"guardian"?  Would she understand that I wasn't really a child like
her?  How would she react when she found out I simply lied to her to
get her out of danger?

I wondered if this was what it was like to have children.  Some
innocent soul clinging to you, dependant on your every move,
worshiping your every word.  How awful it would feel to screw
something like that up...  I couldn't imagine myself a father.  I
mean, the thought had crossed my mind on occasion, but I always
chuckled and brushed it aside.

But then my heart sank as I realized for the first time that I had
missed my chance.  I would never be one.

The curse turned me physically into a child.  I couldn't... well... I
was prepubescent, that was for sure...  And there was no way for me to
ever change back.

Its not like I ever wanted children.  It's just... well, not wanting
and having the possibility removed forever were two very different
things...

I shuddered.  Emile held me closer.

Of course, I was nothing like a father to Emile.  She saw me as a
fantasy playmate come true.  A "talking animal" her age who protects
her from monsters.  I had talking animal friends when I was very
young-- imaginary ones of course.  I never really bothered to play
with other kids.  Another missed chance, I suppose.  Not one that I
particularly regretted.

But... I will admit I did wonder... Wonder what it would be like to
play with another child as a child...  To frolic in tall grass and
mud, ignorant of all the troubles of the world.  Just to embrace that
carefree childish bliss I had left behind long ago...  Perhaps Emile
and I could, when no one was looking, sneak off by ourselves and play
together.  Just once.  I could show her how to scale trees like I did
when I was ten...

Blast it... Delirious... I was delirious.   I sighed and looked at the
outlines of my forepaws in the darkness.  I didn't even know who or
what I was anymore...

The sun eventually crept in through the short window placed inches
below the ceiling, which was at ground level outside.  I slinked out
of Emile's arms and sat on my haunches, staring down at her face and
tangled hair.  Well... no one else was awake to see me... so I leaned
over and gave her a little lick on the cheek.  The corners of her
mouth pulled up into a smile.  I leapt off the bed next to my clothing
and began growing to my half-human form.

All right... I was probably going to miss her a little after we
dropped her off at the orphanage.


-- 
- Kendo Virmir
http://virmir.com -- Some of my stories!
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