Story Title: Into One
Story Rating: T
Chapter Title: Mixed
Chapter Rating: T
Chapter Warning(s): Mentions of Death
Summary: No one knows for certain what happens after death. Everyone has their own ideas and theories of what the other side is like. My life after death just happened to be a plane of nothingness and a black, seven-tailed fox from another world... wait what?
Authoress Note: This wouldn't get out of my head after I both watched and read Natsume's Book of Friends and let me tell you; I fell in love with it -3- Enjoy~!
I don't know how long I was walking in the endless abyss; why was I walking in the first place? Was it something buried inside of me that yearned for an end to the loneliness? Or did I create this world at the last moment before my death so I wouldn't feel my soul being ripped from my body?
A sigh left me as my legs kept moving and my eyes traveled down to the unfamiliar clothes I don't remember ever owning. It was a pure white robe, but at the same time it wasn't; I raked my brain for the proper name for it, nearly scratching my head in frustration when it popped up; I was wearing a Kyokatabira, a kimono worn by the dead if I remembered correctly. Far from the black jeans and gray long sleeved shirt I had on before dying.
"Hold on," I muttered, going through my memories again, my confusion growing when my memories showed neither my parents nor I being of Japanese or Chinese descent, "But then... why am I wearing this?" I questioned the endless darkness around me.
"If you were paying attention to your surroundings, you would've notice your clothes shifting and changing as you walked." A rather snarky and bored voice stated from behind me, making myself jumped nearly ten feet in the air.
Turning around to face the owner of the voice, I found myself eye to eye with a pitch black fox with golden eyes and golden fire circling around its paws as well as embers flying off of what seemed like seven tails attached to the fox; had its eyes been closed and the fire not there, I would've never seen the large animal.
I eyed the fox rather warily as he(?) was the only other being I had come across, but my curiosity yearned to be satisfied, "What do you mean?"
The fox let out a sigh, "We are in a plane in between worlds, you were thrown here when you died a rather violent death and preventing Death from collecting your soul as each Death is tied to its own world and can't come here; if that happened, we'd all be dead no matter if it was the end of our lifespan or not." He (I was somewhat sure of this now) stopped to take a breath before continuing, "Since you are here and wandering around aimlessly with no clear destination, your soul is adjusting to each world as you pass it wanting to be reborn but also not wanting to get rid of the personality that makes you."
Slowly, I nodded as I processed the information I received from the fox, "So, where am I now for my clothes to shift into this?" I gestured to the kimono still draped over my body.
A foxy grin spread across the fox's face just before he answered, "Some place familiar to you, but at the same time not."
I blinked at the vague description but dropped it either way; I knew a losing battle when I saw one, "Alright..." I trailed off, my eyes locking onto the fox as my body (Did I even have a body anymore?) finally registered the immense power radiating off of the animal, "If I may?" I asked, unsure whether I should ask about him personally.
The black fox gain a calculating look in his golden eyes, "You may, human."
Ignoring the snobby tone in his voice I questioned, "How are you here?"
His tails flicked irritably when I asked, his voice gaining a slight growl to it, "An exorcist decided getting a seven-tailed fox for a slave would look great in the eyes of his fellow exorcists and sought out my kind; killing off the kits and sealing the ones too powerful or stubborn for him to control. When he and I crossed paths, he was too full of anger to consider his actions and snapped when he laid eyes on me," A shaky intake of breath was heard and I was wise enough not to interrupt as he continued his story, "When he and his servants stumbled across my burrow, I was teaching some young kits how to hide their tails from prying eyes and I had demonstrated it myself so it seemed like I was a young one myself; they were able to get away, but due to me sealing up most of my power to condense my tails into one, I was captured. The exorcist didn't stop in his anger and pulled out a strong talisman; strong enough to kill me in my weakened state."
My eyes traveled down the my hands messing with my sleeves, I didn't know what to say; could I say anything without him blowing up on me? I didn't know, at the moment it seemed silence was the best answer.
My gaze locked onto him once more when he shook his head violently before looking back at me, "But the past is in the past, it's best to keep moving forward; though I don't want to go into any other world besides the one I was just in, which is where you come in, human, you should be pleased."
"Hold on a moment," I said quickly, jumping backwards a few steps as the fox grew closer, "I don't see where I go into all of this."
He huffed, stomping his paws impatiently, making the golden fire go every which way, "You humans and your worries. I am offering you another chance at life without going through the whole birthing process every human and animal goes through; you will be starting a new life and not wasting a single moment."
It sounded very tempting, but I shoved down the 'yes' that rose through my throat when something about his offer was off, "What's the catch?"
Golden eyes seemed to widen a bit before the fox let out a throaty laugh, "I'm starting to like you more and more, human. You're right; there is a catch. The catch is, before either of us go back into my world, our two souls have to combine into one new soul." He trailed off, waiting for me to end his statement.
"So the Death in your world doesn't notice the arrival of two souls already at their end and doesn't pick us up." I finished, my eyes wide from realization.
He nodded, "Exactly. Now, when our souls combine, I don't know if we will end up being human or youkai nor what time we will end up in; once we get there however, there will be no you or me, just our combined personalities in one being. With our souls combined into one, hopefully I'll get my ninth tail." He snickered gleefully at the last part and all I could do was faintly smile.
I stiffened up my whole body so I wouldn't take an unconscious step backwards and watched as the fox stepped towards me until he was looming over me; the golden fire licked at my kimono as the embers grazed my skin when his tails wrapped around me until the fox completely encircled me. Our eyes stayed locked as the golden fire grew fierce, climbing up both of our bodies and filling up the spaces in between us, the warmth from the flames slowly but surely making me drowsier with each passing moment.
"Sleep," The fox commanded, his voice growing tired as well, "When you wake, we will be one."
And then I fell back into the darkness.
Authoress Note: Hm... a bit shorter than I like :/ but that only means I get to make the next chapter longer! :D Review please? oxo