Sorry its been so long. I really didn't mean for this to come out so late, but I kinda got swept up in things. I'm about to be real honest here, sorry if it gets kinda sappy. Last year was the roughest year of my life so far, and the only real escape I had was through writing. Things had finally started to get better late last year and now I am finally feeling back to my old self, and ive kinda been reveling in it. I've been so focused on keeping up and living in the moment that I pushed writing to the way side, which I kinda feel bad about but I'm just glad to be happy 90% of the time again.

Since I haven't needed my escape so much, writing hasn't been my focus, but I'm going to try and change that. I want to get back to a good writing schedule that you guys will be able to hold me to, and I want writing not just to be an escape anymore. It will take some time for that to happen, but I'm working on it. Sorry if this got a little too real but I'd rather be honest then just make excuses all the time.

Well, sorry if it's a bit shorter than normal but I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Liz- Reading your reviews always brightens my day. Glad you're still enjoying things and I hope you continue to like this story!

SubjectOmega12- Thanks! I hope you had a happy holiday too!

Guest- don't worry I'm gonna try and be more on the ball with this story. Hope you like the chapter!

Allie

I could barely focus as Nadia waked us through how to do our homework. Even though I was only half listening, the water master managed to teach us how to do the equations in one hour when our teacher failed to do so over three days.

"It's not difficult if you have instruction." The woman crossed her arms when Gabe and Lucy thanked her for her help. "Though listening to the instruction is often more helpful than a friend's notes."

I flinched, feeling Nadia's gaze drilling into the back of my head. Turning back to the water master, I sighed. "Sorry."

Gabe gave me a worried glance, and Lucy placed a hand on my arm.

"Is something wrong, Allison?" Her tone softened a little, but it was not reassuring.

"No, it's nothing." I gathered up my things, shoving them haphazardly into my bag as I tried to ignore the eyes on me.

"Allie," Gabe called after me as I left the library.

Finding a quiet place among the twisting paths in the temple, I set my bag down and rested against the wall.

Why her? The question that had kept me up all night reappeared in my mind. Why now?

Tears burned in my eyes, and I fought down anger as fragments of memories flashed through my head.

She had no right to show up now. How long had it been? Six years now? Six years since Piper abandoned me and dad to go globetrotting?

Apparently this all had been pre-planned. Her father was so excited about his special gift. He had been hinting at it for almost a month. Even in front of her friends, he would happily bring up his special gift and that he couldn't wait for me to see it.

Wincing at how humiliating it was for Piper to strut in in front of Gabe and Lucy last night, I pulled out my phone and attempted to text Ray again.

Apparently, he and Jaha were after some creature in Japan, and ever since he had been MIA. Part of her worried for him, but another was angry that he wasn't here. That he wasn't answering her calls and texts, even though she had told him about Piper the second she could see straight enough to type the woman's name.

"Allison?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of my own name.

Stumbling to stand straight and wipe my eyes, I looked to the person, and found Nadia looking down at me, worry practically nonexistent on her face, but clear in her eyes.

"Come, tell me what's wrong." She gestured for me to follow her. When I didn't she glanced back, giving me her signature glare.

Oh, hell. Grabbing my bag again, she led me to a quiet little cave at the far back of the temple.

"Didn't know this was here." I muttered, setting my bag on one of the rounded stalagmites rising from the ground.

"I'm surprised." Nadia hummed, her expression unreadable as she leaned against a large stone. "I thought you three would have had this temple completely mapped out by now."

"Yeah, me too." I rubbed my arm, also leaning against one of the stones.

"So, what's wrong?" It took everything to keep from flinching as she cut straight to the point.

"It's really none of your business." I couldn't stop the retort from slipping through my lips. After two years, I knew Nadia was not someone to back talk to, especially when she was asking a direct question.

"It is if it could affect the temple."

Her response surprised me. "How could my m- problem effect the temple?"

"I'm surprised you've already forgotten." Her voice was deadpan. "The Titan's war, the Choten's return? You not being at your best will make you a liability."

"Liability?"

"Your weakness will make you a target."

"Weakness?!" Anger sparked inside of me, igniting the rest of my held back emotions with it. "It's not my fault my freaking mom came back after abandoning me for six years! It's not my fault that she's moved back in like it was no big deal, like she had just been gone for the weekend and was now back home!"

Nadia didn't respond, she didn't even move. Her face and eyes betrayed nothing of what she was thinking, and it only made me angrier.

"She doesn't have the right to come back! She doesn't have the right to make me- to make me…" Tears escaped my eyes and I furiously rubbed them away.

"And you…" I glared at her through my tears. "You don't have the freaking right to call me weak."

Nadia regarded me calmly, and as my anger melted away, embarrassment quickly took its place. Glancing around, I looked for Master Okamoto's stalker spheres.

"This cave is hidden from their view." Nadia reassured, taking me by surprise as she guessed my thought process. "And no, I don't have the right to call you weak, so why do you let me?"

"What?"

"Why do I look at you now and think you are weak?" Her deep blue eyes bore into me.

I thought for a moment, but couldn't think of anything. She needed an answer though, so I shrugged.

"You are not weak because of the things you are feeling," She clarified. "The weakness I see is you allowing it to rule your thoughts and actions."

I couldn't respond to that, especially since she was right. Ashamed, I looked down at my feet, sniffing and wiping my eyes.

Then, the water master surprised at me. Stepping forwards, she placed an arm around my shoulder. "I cannot even begin to fathom what you are feeling at the moment, but what I do know is it is no excuse to treat your friends poorly. It can create discourse, and the last thing this temple needs is discourse of any kind."

Despite her explanation, which was as logical as everything that came from the water master's mouth, Nadia held her gently. It was a kind gesture, and it surprisingly did a lot to ease my nerves. Part of me was surprised she was able to be so comforting, but then again, she did have two sisters. She probably had a lot of practice… especially after the guard thing.

Guilt ate at my belly at the realization. Of course she would see me being bitchy at Gabe and Lucy as weakness. Out of probably everyone in the temple at the moment, she honestly has the most excuses to be bitchy to everyone. She lost a lot of friends, had her memories erased, and now was being scrutinized for it by the other masters, and yet she still was worrying about me.

"Sorry," I began, but she shook her head, giving my shoulder a light squeeze.

"Take some time to yourself." She soothed. "Calm down and then go to your friends. They are the ones you should apologize to.

I nodded quietly, and after a moment, she pulled away. Before she left the cave, she cast me a concerned glance. Wiping at my eyes, I gave her a small smile, which she returned before turning away and leaving to allow me to figure myself out.

Ray

The fox was fast, but it never left my line of sight. In fact, the white creature seemed to be simply prancing ahead of me, occasionally checking back and pausing to let me catch up. It was almost playing with me, and I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. On one hand it was letting me keep up with it, but on the other… for all I knew it could be leading me to a trap.

I followed the white creature to the edge of the city and into the forest before I hand to stop and catch my breath. I practically collapsed against a surprisingly large tree, and the fox simply watched as I gasped and tore off my jacket to cool off. Part of me was worried that the fox would run off and leave me behind, but sure enough it perched itself on a rock nearby.

Its dark gaze was unnerving, but I took the opportunity to examine the creature for a moment. The fox was no bigger than a normal red fox, but its ears were much longer. The markings on its face were similar to Allie's, but pretty different. The only thing in common they had were dark lines around their eyes and upper lip. This fox's marking were far more complex. Under its eyes, the lines branched and swirled down its cheeks. When the fox shifted to scratch behind its ears, I noticed a black line trailing down its spine. Swirls branched at its shoulders before fading off into the white fur. Its long tail was ink dipped, and that was it for markings.

As I inspected the fox further, I realized something else. The fox wasn't exactly white. Its muzzle and face were snow white, but the rest of its fur was a pale tan, but the tips were frosted with age.

Whatever this creature was, I knew one thing; it was old.

The moment I could breathe regularly again, I stood, and instead of taking off again, it simply led me through the forest. My legs ached slightly, and part of me wondered if it could sense that.

"Um, hi there." I tried calling out to it. The fox didn't respond in any way. "Can you speak?"

Once again, I was answered with nothing, but I could have sworn that one of its ears had twitched. Taking some courage in that observation, he tried again.

"What are you? Master Jaha, the woman that was with me, thinks you might be something special... I think." The fox sneezed at that, pausing to shake its head and swipe at its nose.

"You're a Kaiju, right?" Another sneeze answered me.

"…are you a Kitsune?"

That got the creature to glance back, and I tried to hide a victorious smile. "You are, aren't you? You look different from the Kitsune I know. His name is Haru Kitsune."

I rambled for a while, describing the kaiju that was masquerading as Allie's dog. I didn't know if the fox was listening or not, but it was nice to hear something other than the buzzing of a forest that already knew about his presence. Other than the bugs, no other creature was making a sound. It was unnerving, but the sound of my own voice helped my courage.

Finally, the fox paused long enough for me to catch up to it. When I followed its gaze, I found myself looking at an old Shinto gate that was blackened with age and covered with moss. The creature looked up at me expectantly, and then walked under the gate.

A bad feeling took hold of my gut. The forest seemed to grow quieter and darker, and all the shadows the trees cast began to look like little foxes that were watching me. There was a sudden chill at my back, and I whipped around. Of course, there was nothing there, but the cold feeling still seeped through my clothes and crawled up my skin.

Looking back at the fox, who was waiting for me on the other side of the gate, I noticed it had changed a little. Its face was sharper, but also older. Its back was hunched as if it was three hundred years old, and the black markings had faded exponentially and its ears were drooped, as if it could no longer hold them up.

Its eyes were still black as night, but as it looked up at me pathetically, I knew it was something special. In fact, part of me suddenly had an idea of what this creature might be.

Taking a deep breath, I swallowed my fear and stepped forwards. I crossed the gate's threshold cautiously.

I blinked once,

Twice…

And could barely even begin to comprehend what was now before me.

Before crossing the gate, there was nothing. Just a forest with a small clearing and an ancient looking Shinto gate. After crossing it, the forest was suddenly shrouded in purples and blacks. The shadows now were visibly moving, swirling like tentacles that probably would have swallowed me up if they weren't stuck to the floor. What was most disturbing though, was the sudden appearance of a massive gaping hole in the ground.

The white fox stood uncomfortably, trembling as its now ancient legs struggled to make it stand. Once it was able to get to its feet, the creature jumped down the hole.

I couldn't help but gawk as the creature took a moment to crouch down, complete with a sad little whine, and then took a flying leap into the abyss. Stupidly, I tried to jump forwards and save the little creature.

Of course I couldn't, and then found myself following the stupid little thing into the void.

I screamed the whole way down.

My entire body tensed as I hit the ground- or what should have been the ground. Instead, I landed on lumpy bed of fur. When I tried to push myself up, the fur shifted under me. The bed turned to three long appendages that coiled around my body. Carefully, I was lowered to the ground, and the appendages retreated.

"You, child with eyes that seek knowledge, what is your name?" An ancient yet strong voice called to me from the darkness as the appendages, which now appeared to be three white tails, retreated from my sight.

"Uhh, my name's Ray. Who are you? What are you? And what do you mean 'eyes that seek knowledge'?" I asked.

"Ah, a curious child." The voice hummed, and based on the direction of the sound, I could tell the kaiju was circling me. "It has been a long time since I have seen your kind."

I blinked, completely confused. "You mean humans?"

"No, I mean veil bound."

"Veil bound?" I echoed. "What does that mean?"

The creature let out a strange chortle, and as my eyes adjusted to the shadows, I was able to make out several moving shapes. I tried to follow were I thought the voice was coming from, but it kept moving around me.

"Tell me, child, what do you seek?"

I thought carefully at my answered. I still had no idea why Jaha wanted to find the white fox- though I now have a pretty good guess. The fox was her key to this creature, but he still had no clue what this creature was. I replayed the conversation in my head.

"um, knowledge, I guess?"

Silence, and then a genuine laugh. It wasn't like the laugh it had let out a moment before, as if it were teasing me. This was much higher in pitch, and sounded like a wild cackle.

"Good answer, child," The creature snickered. "Tell me, what do you want to know?"

I paused again. There was a lot to ask, but I decided to start simple. "Who are you?"

The creature hummed, and then snickered to itself. "Why ask what you already know?"

Left once again speechless and blinking dumbly, I tried to think back about what I had said, and then to my interaction with the fox. I felt stupid when it hit me. "Oh, you're a Kitsune?"

"I am."

I was proud of my answer, so I gathered some courage and asked another question. "What's your name?"

"Hmm, it has been a long time since any searchers have asked my name." The creature drew closer, and I could begin to see its face through the shadows. Blazing green eyes met mine.

He had a face that was similar to Hakura's, sharp and foxlike, but longer and thin with age. His ears were also noticeably different, being much longer and held naturally back unless he willingly moved them forwards. His fur was pale, and black markings like Allie's but much more complex were etched all over his face. "I am Kyuubi Kitsune."

Gabe

When Nadia returned to the library without Allie, I could only assume she had been pushed away. Just as I was about to ask, the water master suddenly shivered. The invisible markings that had appeared on her face after her encounter with the Water Elder appeared for a moment, and her eyes grew distant.

"Master?" I cautiously approached her, worried and more than a little startled by the display.

Just as quickly as they had appeared though, they vanished. Her eyes refocused, and she blinked a few times.

Seeing she was back to normal, I tried again. "Are you okay?"

She seemed startled that I was there, but only for a moment. "Yes, I am fine."

She thanked me for my concern and then headed down the isles containing tablets on darkness creatures, which was definitely not where she was heading. Curious, I followed.

"What happened?"

She didn't answer immediately, but then she let out a small sigh. "The water elder apparently can still speak to me."

I don't know what I was expecting, but that sure wasn't it. "He can? What did he say?"

She slowed as we reached the back of the section, and began searching through some tablets before pulling out one. Dusting it off, she examined the back of it. "He believes the Darkness elder is in danger."

She handed me the tablet, and as I read it over, my stomach began to turn.

Kai-ken the fox eater