Fox Love:
Chapter 9- Haven
"My father was a kitsune, my mother too," the girl began. "But we didn't live among other kitsunes. We lived in a small village in the Makai with my grandfather. The village was made up of warriors and soldiers, most of them fighters for hire. My father was the head of a band of vicious warriors, all veteran fighters and well-trained in the ways of many types of weaponry. My mother stayed at home, caring for me and my aged grandfather, who had also once been a warrior, one of the best they say. It was my father who taught me how to wield a sword and to fight. He taught me how to use and survive by many different types of weaponry and he also taught me the fighting skills so prized by his family. I was trained in the ways of no less then five martial arts in addition to wrestling and was then taught skills that would aide me when I would, supposedly, follow in my father's footsteps. I learned how to track, how to hunt, and fish and ride. He even taught me to make my own weapons and a little bit of the art of healing. I was almost overwhelemed by all that was being thrown at me, but I managed with the help of my mother, who was less the warrior and more the kitsune my father wasn't.
I was close to both my parents, too close I guess. For if I had been a little more distant, I would not be in the situation I am now. When I was still young, my father was cruely murdered by those he considered his friends. Thinking him to be too powerful, they came into our house one night and killled my father, wounding my mother in the process. She died several days later, in the arms of my grandfather. I was devastated. But I allowed myself to grieve only a short time before moving on and assuming the responsibilites left to me by my parents. I cared for my grandfather as best I could, my meager skills in healing counting for almost nothing. I also took over the job of the money-maker, hiring myself out during the day to anyone who would have me, doing their dirty work, anything, so long as it brought in money.
But my efforts were in vain, for my grandfather died a few months later in his sleep, leaving me alone. I sold almost everything we had and went off on my own, saying goodbye to the only life I had ever known. I wandered for about a year before coming to a small forest shrine where there lived a renowned fighting master. Not knowing who it was that I stayed with, I helped him out, doing odd jobs and running errands for him, saying nothing of my skills and knowlegde. Then one day, he saw me practicing my swordsmanship and my martial arts in the clearing. He tested me, my strength and my knowledge of many weapons, all of which I wielded like I had once done. Impressed, he took me on as his pupil, teaching me more then I could have ever learned on my own. Among the things he taught me were my speed skills and...the use of my Spirit Energy.
Up until then I had little idea of my own Spirit Energy. I had seen other use it but had never thought of doing it myself. For me, my weapons were enough. But this man, called Riuna, recognized my spirit potential and taught he the ways of controlling my energy. He was also the one that taught me my healing light, a branch of my Spirit Energy. That man was like a second father to me, teaching me and caring for me more then I will ever be able to repay him. But soon, my wandering need took me over once more and I left him and haven't seen him since. I think part of the reason I left was because I was afraid of losing him, too. I couldn't bear to lose one more thing in my life."
At this point in her story, Haven paused, her voice choked and her eyes threatening to spill over. The rest of the boys in the room had moved to the floor and were seated in a half-circle in front of her. She turned her face away and blinked rapidly, trying to prevent the tears from running down her face.
"Let go," Kurama's soft voice whispered in her ear. Her head swiveled around to discover him right next to her. "Go ahead and cry, just let go."
But she held her head up proudly. "Crying is for weaklings. I haven't cried since the day my parents died. I can't afford to lose control now." But her voice choked again.
Kurama moved in even closer. "But sometimes it's good to cry," he informed her. "You can't keep everything inside you forever, it just won't work."
Glancing up at him through blurred eyes, she knew he was right. Giving him a barely perceptable nod of her head, she let the tears fall. Sobbing, her shoulders shaking, Haven let go. Years worth of anger, sorrow, and grief burst through like water breaking down a dam. Kurama pulled her into his arms, hugging her to his body. She instinctivly buried her face in his chest, crying and sobbing to no end while the others looked on sympathetically.
Finally, the flood subsided slightly and Haven lifed her head and turned to face the group once more.
"After I left Riuna, I didn't know where to turn. I wandered aimlessly for years, keeping myself alive by doing odd jobs and hunting occasionally. I let myself get close to no one, knowing that if I did so, I would eventually be hurt again. I couldn't stand the thought of that, so I just kept my distance and went my way, never staying too long in one place for fear of growing too close to the people there. It was hard, for many of them were kind to me. There was only one time when I ever let myself love someone again, and that brought about my downfall. For he betrayed me and I ended up hurt, angry, and half-dead with nothing to my name anymore except my clothes and my sword. he took it all, my love, my pride, my possesions...everything.
Knowing I could no longer stay in the Makai I left and came here. Using a spell taught me by Riuna I have kept my identity secret, not allowing myself to be seen in my true form. I have not been in my Youko form in years and it's hard, but I know it's the only way."
Here she stopped and looked at the others; the shields in her eyes gone, her face tear-stained and lined with grief. She stared at them for long moments before shaking herself, then starting. She jumped slightly, whipped around to look at Kurama and found him staring at her intensly, sympathy and concern mirrored in his emerald eyes. She leaped up and ran from the room, not looking back, and slamming the door between their rooms. Sighing and rubbing the front of his shirt, Kurama slumped back against the wall. Yusuke turned to him and started snickering. Kurama cracked open one eye and glared at him.
"What's so funny?"
"Your shirt," came the choked reply.
Hiei and Kuwabara looked over also. Kuwabara laughed and Hiei's mouth twitched. Kurama glanced down and saw that there was a huge wet spot where Haven's tears has soaked through the thin material. Smiling to himself, he got up and went to change his shirt.
"We've done it!" he thought excitedly to himself. "We've gotten through to her, broken the walls around her!"
Meanwhile, in the room next to his, a kitsune girl sat on her windowsill and stared out at the starry night, wondering why she had ever let herself get into this.
Her face was wet, her eyes were red, and her body trembled. Kurama...why had he done that? What had he done to her?! She was letting herself get soft, letting herself get attachted to people. But...it felt alright. Yeah, until you get betrayed by him and the others, the raional part of her mind said. But even though she felt this was true, she couldn't help liking them. Yusuke with his cocky attitude, Kuwabara with his love for kittens, Hiei, cold and yet not so cold, and Kurama...Her thoughts drifted. Kurama, those eyes...they seemed to pierce right through her. The concern she had seen in his eyes had scared her. Because along with that concern, she had glimpsed another emotion. One she had not seen in anyone's eyes in years. Love.
Chapter 10- Emotions
