Kit Love:
Chapter 5- Companion
The other kitsune circled around him, taking in the slender form that was so much like his own. Shuurai remained where he was on the ground and watched, dumbfounded, as the other boy's eyes widened more and more. "Who're your parents?" Enrai asked, finally sitting down in the dust next to his opposite.
But Shuurai shook his head. "I never knew them. They . . . they left before I was born." He made sure he placed careful emphasis on the word 'left'.
Enrai raised one silver eyebrow, and one silvery tail curled around his arm as he gave the golden fox a disbelieving look. "If they died, you can tell me, ya know? I'm not gonna go all weepy on ya or anythin'." He looked away and thought it strange that this fox's situation was so much like his own.
"Well, what about your parents?" Shuurai shot back, getting defensive. "Where are they?"
"They died before I was old enough to remember them," he answered shortly. "I don't even know what they looked like." His fingers strayed to something tied in a small leather pouch at his waist; Shuurai glanced sharply at him.
The two sat in silence for a while, until finally, the silver kitsune broke the silence by asking why Shuurai was alone, wandering this part of the Makai. "I'm looking for my parents," answered, seeing even before it happened the look of skepticism on his companion's face.
And sure enough, the silver eyebrow above one emerald eye rose delicately. "Um . . ."
"Look! They're not dead and they didn't abandon me, ok?! I know my parents are out there somewhere, and I know they're looking for me too!"
Anger flashed in the other's eyes at Shuurai's outburst. "For cryin' out loud, you didn't have to go all pissy on me like that! Shit, if you say your parents are alive, then they're alive! For crap's sake would you calm down?!"
Shuurai took a deep breath and scooped up a handful of dust with one idle hand. Dust soon coated his entire hand, knuckles and all, and he absentmindedly wiped it on his pants. "Well, if you're trying to find your way around these parts here, I guess I could show ya 'round." Shuurai glanced up at the suddenness of the other's speaking; his eyes were questioning and his hair blew into them with a passing gust.
Enrai sprang lithely to his feet and stuck out a hand to help Shuurai up. "Whadda say?"
With a grin, Shuurai reached out and clasped the offered hand. For some reason, he liked this kitsune, trusted him almost without question, which was strange for the young fox. He didn't know anything about him besides his name, and yet . . . yet he felt like he had known him all his life.
"So, headed anywheres in particular?" Enrai ran his fingers through shoulder length locks and grimaced at the dust that clung to his fingers.
"Not really," Shuurai replied, cringing at the dust in his own hair.
"Ok then, well, first things first I guess. There's a pond I know, 'bout half day's travel from here that still has a fair 'mout of water left in it. I'd like to go take a dip, get some of this damned dust off me, and then we can decide where to go from there. Sound good?"
Shuurai nodded.
The two walked down the road together, identical tails swishing softly behind them as the wind ruffled the silky fur and swirled dust all around them. Glancing over more times then one, Shuurai kept seeming to see, not just a reflection of himself, but also of something else. Something familiar. He felt a tingle at the back of his neck whenever he stared intently at the other kitsune and it reminded him of something just out of reach.
Finally, Enrai looked over and managed to catch his gaze. "Something wrong?" he asked dryly.
The golden fox shook his head. "I don't know, I just keep getting this weird feeling . . . like I've know you before or something. I can't really explain it you just seem . . . familiar."
Surprise wrote itself across Enrai's face, then was replaced by agreement. "I know what you mean," he replied in a serious tone. "I mean, it goes deeper then that fact that we just look alike. Which is jus' plain weird. I mean, if I didn' know better I'd say we're twins!" He let out a rich chuckle and cracked his knuckles, brushing long silvery locks over a muscular shoulder.
It was then that Shuurai noticed, for the first time, the pendant hanging from one of the fox's ears. While one silver ear had a small gold hoop running through the top if it, the other was looped around with a long chain that dangled down to about his elbows. But it wasn't the chain that caught the golden kitsune's attention, it was the blood red stone hanging from the end of it. It looked exactly like his own.
Enrai felt the golden eyes on him and glanced over; "It's a Chishio-houshu, leastaways, that's what I was told. A "Blood-Gem", pretty rare, all things considered."
Shuurai gave him a confused look.
Enrai grasped for the right words to explain. "It's a stone, made of the one drop of purest blood to ever leave a kitsune's body. If you pierce your chest-" he put his hand on top of his heart, "-right here when you're feeling a strong emotion towards someone, usually love, then the one drop that falls solidifies into a perfectly round stone called a Chishio-houshu. They have what's called 'life fire' inside, shows the owner's still alive. Anyway, they're only give to someone whom you really care for. As in, love with your whole heart type thing." He fell silent once more, gauging the other's reaction.
The dazed look on Shuurai's face earned the gold fox a concerned look. "You alright?"
Cloudy golden eyes stared at him as if from far away. "It's just . . . I have a stone too, . . . just . . . like . . . that."
Enrai's eyes narrowed to slits. "You have got to be kidding me."
(Author's Note: Hey, I did a sketch of Enrai! I would love it if you would take a look and tell me what you think . . .)
