Chapter 24
Starting over
The vixen was running in happy circles around the bandits as they walked back to the old training area. "Weee! I feel so fast and strong! Being afoxis fun!"=-=
"Vixen." Koronue corrected.--;
"I havefoxears!"
"Vixen."
"And afoxtail!"
"Vixen."
"And a powerful rosy nosey!" she sang. : D
"Damn it, girl, stand still! One might think you were giving usa work out!" X- (
She laughed, "I can't help it you're tired."
"Of course not, we're tired because you got kidnapped by a psycho werewolf."
"And I'm so grateful to be back." She seized them in the biggest hug she could manage. "I missed you two." Tears welled up in her eyes. "We missed you too, now will you let us breath?" the bat gagged. -
"No," and she squeezed tighter. Her tail waved happily behind her. "And because I have returned, I must return to my old ways."
"What old ways?" but she did not answer. Gabriel smiled and put her finger to her lips, signaling her silence. Turning around, she walked the rest of the way to the training grounds ahead of them. Koronue turned to Youko, who had remained silent for quite some time. "Is something troubling you?" he asked quietly. The fox nodded.
"I went to rescue her from Raden because I love her. But now that she's back with us, I can't feel that feeling anymore. Its like our relationship is strictly platonic, with no trace of what we once had at all."
"Give it some time," the bat put a reassuring hand on the fox's shoulder, "she wants her freedom, and it was almost taken away from her, so now she has to be free. Coming onto her as strong as you did then would only remind her of Raden and drive her away. Just give it time."
Gabriel's tail seemed to have a mind of it's own. It moved constantly, swaying with the breeze, making a corkscrew and other shapes, or swatting her 'teachers' when they had their heads turned away. It didn't seem appropriate, but she had tied a green bow around her tail near the end, to keep her tail's long hair from flying away in the wind. Her ears seemed to be folded back quite often. Any noise she would not have heard as a human made her jump or yelp in alarm.
The training session was interrupted frequently by her scratching her ears or smelling the ground or playing with her tail. The bandits tried to be patient, and she looked very sorry each time she was reprimanded, but her new body was like a toy she could not stop playing with. (And not in the nasty way.) Youko finally threw his hands in the air in defeat. "You have to concentrate, Gabriel! You're driving us crazy." He cried.
She was sitting in the grass, playing with a small insect. She gave him a strange, questioning look and said, "How?" Youko ran a hand through his hair in a very human sort of way, an expression of confusion and exasperation. "Maybe if you understood a little more about yourself, you would not be so preoccupied." Her expression did not change; she was waiting for him to elaborate. 'I sure wish there was another vixen here to help her.' he thought. "At a certain time in a youko's life, they are taken onto the forest by a family member or close friend to perform a secret ceremony about growing up; it may help you."
Koronue began to chuckle, "Seeing as how you are the only other youko around,youhave to do this with her." Youko paled, he was right. Gabriel stood up and walked toward him; she stopped and took his hand expectantly. "R-right, um…let's go, shall we then?" he stuttered nervously. Koronue burst into laughter. "Shut up!" Youko growled, though it had no affect on the bat. The fox lead the vixen slowly into the safer part of the woods.
When the cackling bat had vanished from earshot and view, Youko started to speak again. "Um, how old are you, exactly? I know it's rude to ask a female her age, but I am curious."
"Let's see…" she counted on her fingers the days until her next birthday. It was the end of summer; September was melting into October. Her birthday was in the middle of December, one of the coldest months of the year. "I'm almost twenty-one. How old are you?"
"About three-hundred…" he said meekly. -;
"Three- hundred?!"
"Almost."
O.o
"Old man…" she muttered.
"Spoiled kit…" he shot back.
"Decrepit know-it-all."
"Rotten whelp."
"Feeble fox man."
"Um…"
"I win!" -
Youko fumed, having been beaten by a mere kit one fifteenth of his age. "Where are we going?" she asked, changing the subject. Youko turned to Gabriel as they walked. "To a very calm and peaceful place. You and I must take part in the Journey, as some call it. It is a very special and secret part of being a youko. Its not very elaborate, but it reveals one's spiritual essence and turns one mind into a more mature one at a slightly faster rate than most humans."
"And you'll be with me?" she pulled his hand closer; the idea of the Journey scared her. Youko looked at her, smiled, and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It's nothing scary or dangerous, but yes, I'll be with you the whole time."
A river was running through the forest, falling over a stony cliff, cascading into a pool below and continuing on its journey. Youko wadded into the water up to his waist, waving for Gabriel to follow. She stuck her foot in the water timidly, and then jerked it back out, shivering. Youko called out to her; sucking in a deep breath, she plowed into the freezing water, splashing all over Youko. Water dripped from his ears as he glared at her. She was busy inspecting her fingernails at the moment, blushing furiously. He flipped his head, splashing her and went on with his self appointed task. "Basically, we're going to try and swim under the waterfall, and reach the caves on the other side, its more private there andYOU'RE NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB OF HIDING, KORONUE!!!"
Gabriel heard a faint 'shit!' and a tree's branches rustling. They stayed in the waist high depth of the water and worked up the shore to the side of the waterfall. The water was even deeper nearer to the falls; a snowy mist surrounded the bottom. Huge smooth stones were all that was left behind in the powerful waters; many different kinds of plants grew along the water and between the rocks. "I've been behind the falls before, there is a large heavy stone I wrap my vines around and pull myself through the water. This shouldn't be to hard, as long as you can hold your breath for a while." He said, conjuring a thick vine that slipped through the water like a snake. He paused for a few moments while the vine sought its anchor; it squeezed Youko's hand, signaling to him. "Good, now just hold on tight and take a deep breath, I'll make the vine pull us in." he slid his arm around her waist, "Ready?" she nodded and took a firm hold of the vine.
With a swift jerk, they were dragged under water. Even under water, they could hear the dull roar of the falls; the surface was rippling with the golden light of the sun. They were being pulled toward a dull gray wall of bubbles; Youko squeezed her waist tightly, reminding her to hold on. The force of the waterfall drove them down, down, down to the murky bottom of the pool; the water was even colder there. Gabriel was scared, but the bubbles tickled, driving her fear away. The vine was straining to pull them both up; they were running out of breath. Gabriel could feel Youko's reiki working on the vine, trying to make it go faster. The vine relaxed its grip on Youko's arm, signaling they were in the caves, but still under water. He let go of the vixen's waist and shoved her forward and up to the surface. Her head popped up, spitting a stream of water. She looked around for Youko but he had not come up yet.
The fox suddenly had a wicked idea. He let go of the vine, letting it float to the surface. He could hold his breath for quite a while; lets see how long it would take for her to think he had drowned? Gabriel was sitting on the rock ledge that was the equivalent of the shore. She had been waiting for several minutes, then she saw the guide vine float to the surface, with no fox attached. Her eyes went wide, "Youko!" she pulled the vine out of the water, flinging it to the side. He still didn't surface; she dove back into the cold water, searching, when she saw a silver shape in the water, slowly sinking downward. She happened to be a very good swimmer and trained in water rescue, so she went to him.
He appeared lifeless, a bubble drifted out of his mouth. Hooking her arms around his middle with his back to her chest, she swam up to the surface. Gabriel gasped, having to work hard keeping two bodies afloat. She hauled him onto the rock ledge with some difficulty. "Youko! Youko, wake up! Speak to me, Youko!!" she slapped his face a few times. He didn't move; she whimpered in fear, wringing her hands. "Don't die Youko!" She tilted his head back, ready to perform CPR, when he jerked his head up and pecked her on the cheek. She screamed and jumped back. Youko burst into laughter, but it was soon halted with a sharp slap. "What did you do that for?" she yelled. "I thought you were dead!!"
He touched his cheek where she slapped him; it stung. "I'm…sorry Gabriel…"
"That wasn't funny!! I thought I had lost you-!!" she glomfed him, crying loudly. Youko remained still, holding his hurt cheek, 'She was worried for my life…' he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. Her head rested on his shoulder comfortably. "I'm sorry, Tou-Koushin." He used her old nickname. She shook her head, pulling back. "Don't call me that, please." She begged, "It brings back too many painful memories. It was his name too…Toko."
He had lost the use of a nickname. Youko flattened his ears sheepishly while he thought. "Then…Gabe. I will call you Gabe, its shorter to say, and still as pretty." He tipped her nose, making her smile again. "Gabe," she said, trying her name out. "I like it." She flicked the water off her ears and leaned her head on his shoulder again. How long they stayed like that, he couldn't recall, but when he felt her shivering, he pulled her back. "We need a fire!" he stood up and wrung out his tail, "C'mon, lets find a dry spot to sit."
Thirty minutes later, a friendly yellow fire danced in front of them. The fox began the task of teaching her to properly groom her ears and tail; they ended up grooming each other's tails, though Gabriel's tail still had a mind of its own. "Are you done yet?" she asked, tying a big bow on the end of the fox's tail. "No! You have a lot more hair than I do!! It's taking me longer because I normally keep my tail trimmed short. Not to mention you keep flipping me in the face…" he grumbled. Her tail seemed insulted andpash!It smacked him in the face again.He had had enough; he bit the end of her tail. "OW!" she yelled glaring at him.
"Bad Gabe's tail!!" he wagged his finger. She tweaked his ear, "Don't bite me!"
"Your tail started it!"
"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!!" Silence.
The fire crackled merrily as Youko gave Gabriel's tail the silent treatment. "What's the Journey like?" she changed the subject. Youko took her hands, "You become one with yourself and your spirit. You turn yourself into a strong foundation that nothing can shake. You shape your life from it."
"I'm ready, lets do it."
"Close your eyes," he commanded; she did so. "Concentrate on your spirit energy. Right now you can't control it, but that's what I'm here for. Now, just feel the control I have over my reiki," the fox let his energy flow through their hands, she could feel his control. His clothes and hair began to ripple as if a wind was blowing. "Keep your eyes closed." He reminded her. The reiki inside her was flowing unevenly; he let his energy mingle with hers, trying to calm it and make it flow steadily. Her reiki was making her hair and clothes whip around like a maelstrom. 'She's strong,' he noted. He tried again to make her reiki stabilize; the winds around them lifted them off the ground. "Keep your eyes closed, you'll sever the link." He said. She gave a whimper, feeling unsafe in midair. "Don't be afraid, I'm right here." Her energy skyrocketed, sending beams of light that pressed against the cave walls, snuffing out the fire. The fox kept a firm hold of her hands and guided her back into control. Her energy went down, so low it was barely detectable, and then became a regular flow like his. The fire came back to life. His energy withdrew from hers. "You can open your eyes now," he tipped her nose. "You're in control."