Hi Spell here well the ayes as they say have it! The votes have been cast and the verdict is now in she leaves (or tries to leave)… I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'd like to thank everyone who voted J! And to those who didn't oh well don't say I never gave you a chance.
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I've got to get away!
A pack of wolves howled outside her window. Sozoryoku couldn't sleep. She shivered with each lonely howl the wolves produced. This was odd because being a were-creature she wasn't afraid of wolves or foxes. That left only one thing those weren't natural wolves. Sozoryoku knew one thing- she had to get out! Xellos had left her, her old dress, bag, herb knife and along with whatever she had in the bag. He had also left her both the new outfits she had been given. That she thought was more then enough to escape.
She took her bag and rummaged through it. It contained some home made paint, about ten copper coins, a flint, a steel, a sharpening rock for her knife, her moon stone necklace and some food that was supposed to be for her lunch. "oh well at least it's already dried food." She had enough room in her bag for all the clothing and her knife as long as she was careful. She changed back into her old dress and packed her bag. A plan began to formulate in her mind. She took her knife and ran the blade carefully along the stone floor sharpening it. When it was properly sharp she put the knife in her bag, changed out of her dress and packed that. After she had her bag all packed up she then tied her bag around her waist. She fixed her bed so it looked like she was sleeping in it and transformed into a fox.
Sozoryoku jumped neatly down from the window onto the ground and ran. She ran as fast as she could to the very out skirts of the island. Once she deemed herself far enough away from the fortress she looked around and transformed back into her fox-girl state. She looked around and found the perfect tree. It was thick but not impossible to cut and not very tall. Sozoryoku quickly untied her bag from her waist and took out her knife. She sawed at the tree, at first making sure that there was a deep score all around the tree. Then she spent the next hour cutting it, scratching at it and finally she just kicked it down. Sozoryoku then cut a person sized hole in the trunk and removed all the bark. She looked at her paws almost regretfully and began to dig at the tree and hollowed it out. It took her three hours of scraping with her knife, digging with fox paws and digging with half human paws.
Sozoryoku looked at her work and sighed. "Well it's not very good but hopefully it will work." And indeed it wasn't very good work- the inside was rough but it would do. She grabbed a large branch to use as a paddle and packed away her knife and tied the bag around her stomach again. She dragged the 'boat and paddle' to the water and pushed off. She got in and held her breath. Miracle of all miracles it didn't sink!
She paddled. And paddled. And paddled for a long time. Sozoryoku looked up at the sky, the moon was still in the sky and the sun hadn't woken up yet. Hopefully neither had the Dark Lords Xelas or her servant Xellos. Part of her felt bad about abandoning them. But she reasoned to herself they were monsters not lost children of puppies.
"Why do I feel so bad about going? It's not like I owe them or anything. Besides Lady Xelas did say I could go home."1) She told herself.
But another part of herself answered back. "But that was when she thought that you were one of her foxes. You lied to her. Besides you do owe them. You owe your master and his mistress."2)
"I have no master!"
"But you do. And you know you do!"
"Who Xellos? He is not my master!"
"But he is! Xellos resurrected you as a monster after you were killed by the bandits! Xellos saved you life be making you his servant!"
"But I wasn't dead! He couldn't have saved my life if I wasn't dead!" her conversation was interrupted by her stomach rumbling. She looked around and realized that the Island was far away now. She couldn't even see it. Sozoryoku decided that it was time for breakfast. She untied her bag from around her waist and dug her lunch out of it. Then she quickly tied the bag back around her stomach. Sozoryoku untied the leather pouch that held her lunch and ate her dried fruit. The rest she tied back up and sealed in her bag.
She put her branch/paddle across the 'boat' in front of her. She stretched her sore back as best she could and rolled her shoulders to try and relieve the stiffness. It didn't really work to well but it was the best she could do at the moment. After she had done all she could to relieve the sore stiffness in her arms and back she went back to paddling. She took the branch/paddle and started to make her way once again. She had an uneasy felling that Beast Master Xelas and The Greater Beast Xellos Metallium would get around to waking her up soon. And they would soon discover that she wasn't in the fortress anymore. And when that happened she wanted to be as far away as possible!
The Moon had set and the sunlight was starting to spread across the water. Soon she would transform back into her human form. She had to get farther away before then. "Come on only a little farther before the night ends. Come on you can do it!" she told herself. She had to hurry because as a fox girl she was stronger then when she was human. She pushed herself on farther and farther.
But the morning sun did rise. When the transformation started Sozoryoku bit her lip to keep from crying out as her bones rearranged themselves of their own accord. She dropped the paddle/branch as her paws turned back into hands. After the transformation was complete she watched her branch/paddle float away from her. She cursed for a second. And thought for a few seconds. She took off her bag and took out her pouch of food. She untied it and took out some dry bread. She ate it all in only a few bites. She took out a bottle full of water and drank a third of it. Then she capped it and put it back in her pouch, she tied up her pouch and put it in her bag. She didn't tie the bag to her back this time. No this time she made a kind of harness out of the strap and put it around her back right behind her neck.3)
Her arms were really to tired to do any more paddling, but her legs were fine. Sozoryoku carefully stood up in the boat and moved down to the back of the boat. There she lowered herself stomach down onto the back of the boat with her legs in the water. She kicked. The boat moved slowly at first but still it was better then just drifting with the tide. After a few hours the weather began to get bad. The waves began to rock the boat.
The waves began to crash against the boat more fiercely. Until she lost her grip on the boat and went down into the water. She went under the water. Sozoryoku turned into a fox and swam back to the surface, once there she turned back into a human and started to swim for it.
After she had fought against the waves for what seemed to be forever she heard a voice. "The weathers gotten pretty bad I think it's time we turn and go back to the harbor." A woman yelled out over the sound of the waves.
Sozoryoku could see the people or their boat because their was so much salt water in her eyes but she swam towards the voices. "Help!" She called to them. She swam faster to wards where she had heard the voice.
"Hey, I think there some one out their!" A man called. "Hello! Is any one out there?"
"Yes! Help me!" Sozoryoku screamed as a wave broke over her head. To pairs of arms reached through the surf and pulled her into the boat. She sat there in the bottom of the boat and coughed and rubbed her eyes. "Thank (cough, cough) you." She said.
"Your welcome." Another female voice told her. Sozoryoku looked at her through bleary eyes she looked like a nice person. The woman turned to wards one of the men. "He don't just stare at her get her a blanket!" She screamed and hit the men then sighed. "O forget it I'll give her something my self." The woman handed Sozoryoku her black cape. Which Sozoryoku wrapped around herself and fell a sleep.4)
1) the thoughts in italics are her own normal thoughts.
2) The thoughts in bold are the thoughts of her monster half
3) Making a kind of back pack out of a hip bag is easy you take the strap and put it across your back under you arms so the bag is in front of you and the you put the bag behind you head.
4) She is able to sleep now because she was wake all night
