Hello. This is Mouself's author note thingy. I had a whole big huge thing here, but, as They do not like my script format usage, I had to delete it and put up this boring thing. Oh well. Rules are rules. Silvia's now in front of a café with a sandwich sign saying "Will Criticize Mercilessly For Pay". …. Weird.
Mouself does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! But she does own this story. AWAY WITH YOU, VILE ART THIEVES!!!!
The snow was falling softly. All was quiet. Too quiet. A squirrel scampered up a tree in fear of something not yet seen, and cocked his head at the three travelers running doggedly on.
The first was a woman, wearing a plain brown cloak which she had wrapped tightly about a small bundle she carried. Frequently she looked back, as if searching, but also fearing what she found, her golden eyes showing as much. But something was different about her. Two ruddy fox ears protruded from her golden-brown hair, and the tip of a reddish brush swished below the edge of her cloak. She was a fox demon.
The second of the trio was a boy no more than six years of age. He too, was a fox demon, but unlike his mother, his hair was white as the snow about them and thicker. White tail and ears he bore instead of his elder's red-brown ones. His large brown eyes held a stubborn fearlessness as he comforted the whimpering third member of the family, a young girl nearly three. She was nearly the exact image of her mother, save that her hair was pure golden-blonde, with no trace of darkness.
The squirrel watched on as the three ragged figures faded into the falling snow. It sniffed the air, and stiffened; its ears flattened against its head. Then the squirrel quickly darted up the thick tree trunk.
Then the fourth fox demon made his entrance. He, like the young boy, had pure white hair, though his was matted with blood, as was his clothing. His brown eyes burned with a fearless defiance as they bored into the man's opponent, a giant monitor. The lizard hissed, green fletched arrows jutting out from its body. The same arrows rested in a quiver strapped to the demon's back. His method of shooting them was a beautiful white longbow with chestnut brown wood elegantly wrapped about the grip. He put another shaft to the string and shot. The arrow lodged itself into the reptile's flesh—the beast gave a hissing roar, and lurched forward to be struck again.
Soon, the monster was joined by more creatures: more giant monitors, six-foot bipedal lizards with bright eyes and sharp teeth, even a dragon. The first monitor fell to the ground and hissed in pain as the dragon's great claws sunk into its already ruined body—the lizard shuddered once more and died. The dragon roared and flapped its wings, then turned its fiery eyes upon the fox demon. The two gazes met and held for a few moments; brown and red, striving to break the other. Finally the dragon snarled and attacked. His opponent leapt back, firing shafts like lightning bolts. A few struck the scaled hide, but none could pierce it. The demon's eyes hardened. He knew he could not defeat this adversary, and he could see some of the smaller, two-legged creatures moving quickly through the woods, going after his family. His bow could defeat them. He placed an arrow on the bowstring, pulled back—
And ran. He ran as fast as he could to find his family; his wife, his children. He knew this would be his last day to live, but maybe his family would. He didn't even look back when the dragon roared and launched into the air in pursuit.
The mother fox demon's ears pricked. She looked about, stiff with fear, and motioning the two young ones behind her, gripped her bundle tightly. Soon her sharp eyes picked out what she dreaded to see: at least three bipedal reptiles. Their merciless eyes bored into her—she was held by them for a few breathless seconds. Then she tore away and, knowing the beasts were coming closer, placed her bundle into her son's arms.
"Evano. Emana. Run. As fast as you can." she whispered harshly, "I'll fight them off as long as I can but I want you to run. Find somewhere safe for your brother to grow up."
A tear slid down her cheek; she brushed it away and turned back to face the on-coming reptiles, wielding a walking stick. The first creature attacked. Wood connected with its skull with a Crack!
"GO!" she yelled, as the rest of the monsters attacked.
The boy turned, but the girl stalled. Tears were forming in her eyes.
"Momma . . ." she whimpered.
"Come on, Emana." her brother reminded. Emana looked at him piteously, then wiped away her tears and ran.
They ran. Far and fast they ran. They took no time to cover their tracks, they just ran. They ran until they could run no more. And they still ran more. They ran so they could not think about their parents. They ran so they could not think about going home to no one. Onward they ran.
- - - - -
Kadar and Jokonara Kuarten were outside playing in the snow. Both were five years old and close as brothers could be, despite their many quarrels.
"My 'nowball's bigger 'n yours, Choko!" Kadar announced, holding up an oblong lump of snow. Jokonara, jumping to the challenge, heaped a handful of powdery snow on his "'noball."
"No, it not, Kad!" he retorted, as his snowball crumbled into small chunks. The blonde boy stared at it in irritation. His brother, however, seemed to find the situation hilarious.
"Hahahaha! Your 'nowball fell 'part! Hahaha—Gumf!"
Joko had responded by chucking his remains of snowball at his brother's face. He grinned, then received a face full of snow as well. Soon it was war. The two were throwing snowballs every which way and laughing uproariously. Suddenly Joko stopped, a snowball still in his hand. Kad stared at him, puzzled.
"What you doin', Choko?"
His brother continued to stare. Kad turned, and gasped. Before them were two children, a boy and a girl. But they had fox ears. And the boy's hair was white. He stepped forward, and placed a small bundle in his arms on the ground, then went back.
"His name is Ryano. Take care of him." he said softly, and the two diminished from view. Kad slowly took a step toward the bundle resting gently in the snow, and picked it up. His eyes widened. Joko too came to investigate, and he too started in shock. In Kad's arms lay a baby fox demon boy. A baby fox demon boy with white hair.
There you go. Pathetic chapter. Sappy chapter. Depressing chapter. Short chapter. Short sentences. Feh.
Read and revoo. PLEEEAAASE!
