Knuckle Down
Chapter 6
Cast watched as if in slow motion Conte dropped to the ground. The thunder finished, and Cast moved to the ground where Conte had fallen. She had a huge hole in her left shoulder. It was bleeding profusely. Who had done this!?! Why had they done it? Cast picked up Conte.
"Conte? Conte talk to me! Damnit talk!" Conte didn't reply. Cast started crying uncontrollably, Conte limp in his arms. Fox saw what had happened and had stood there stunned. Of all times, why did the hunter have to appear now? He thought. This realization gave Fox a surge of hate he had never felt before, stronger than anything. The hunter wouldn't get away this time.
"Cast stay here." Fox said. Cast understandably didn't reply. He just stood there holding Conte in his arms. Fox looked at him, than darted off into the woods, toward the direction of the gunshot.
Cast stood there not knowing, not comprehending. This couldn't be happening. Things like this just didn't happen to people like him. Cast shook her gently, as if to get her to respond. She would not move. With the realization that Conte was probably dead, Cast put her down, and moved into the forest.
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Fox moved stealthily threw the woods. The hunter was not far ahead, he could smell him. Fox trailed him as he moved. All of a sudden though, he lost the scent. Fox's mind raced. That could only mean that the hunter knew that fox was trailing him and had shifted from downwind. Fox slowly unsheathed the dagger from his hip. This was deadly serious, and he knew it. If the hunter got a bead on him with that shotgun, he would go the same way as his father. Fox wanted to see him again but he still had stuff to do in this world. Thinking of it brought Fox a sudden rush of hatred. This human had probably killed Cast's friend, and if he didn't watch it, he would end up in a grave early. Fox sidled up to a tree. He listened intently for the sounds of a human. The trees gave no clue, and Fox remained silent. Fox could hear birds above his head in the tree.
Fox remained like this for a while. It occurred to him that something was very wrong. Something had changed and he couldn't put his finger on it. After about a second he realized it.
The birds above him weren't chirping anymore.
Fox, not one to think about his actions, dove as fast as he could out from under the tree. He moved not a second to soon, as the ground where he was standing was annihilated by the pellets from a 12-gauge shotgun. The thunder hit him a second after word, nearly knocking him off balance. The sound was insanely loud to his sensitive ears. It took Fox only a few seconds to regain his composure. Using the fact that the hunter had probably not moved, Fox threw his dagger into the tree where the shot had come from. Fox hard a muffled yell, and he saw a cloaked figure fall to the ground. Fox was on it in a flash. There was a brief scuffle, during which Fox withdrew his dagger from the humans left leg. Fox gained the upper-hand, and pinned the human down to the ground and had his dagger at his throat. The human had a look on him of the utmost revulsion, which Fox matched glare for glare. Fox removed the gun from the humans left side, and picked it up, while still having the dagger at his throat. Fox was the caught off guard as a orange and black blur knocked him off of the hunter.
"What the… Cast?!" Cast without replying got on top of the stunned hunter. He raised his hand, and folded it like his teacher had taught him too. He looked at down at the hunter, then punched him with every ounce of strength his angry form could muster. The humans head snapped back and Fox could hear as his nose broke. Fox watched in awe as Cast drew back his fist again. He was going to hit him AGAIN. Fox watched as Cast's fist connected and it made a sickening cracking sound. Fox couldn't take it anymore. There wouldn't be anymore deaths today.
"Cast STOP!" Fox yelled. Cast hit him again. Fox didn't want to see anymore.
"STOP IT NOW!" Fox tackled Cast before his fist connected for the fourth time. They tumbled and tussled for a bit, before Fox pinned Cast to the ground.
"Get off of me!" Cast snarled. Fox looked at him dead in the eye.
"Cast you cant hit him anymore. You'll kill him." Cast started to struggle violently.
"Its no less than he deserves! Im going to beat the hell out of him until he's DEAD! Just as dead as Conte is now! I'll make him cry, I'll make him scream! I'll make damn sure he never hurts anyone again!" Cast looked up at him. Fox replied coolly.
"And what then? So you've killed him. That wouldn't avenge Conte. That wouldn't bring her back. Cliché though it sounds, killing him will put you on his level. He doesn't deserve that pleasure. If you kill him, you'll lose more than Conte, you'll lose yourself." Fox tried to keep the thrashing jaguar down.
"I DON'T CARE!!" Cast yelled. His voice was starting to lose its force now.
"Cast! I've been there! I've done that! There are people I've almost killed before! But I didn't! If you kill someone you lose your innocence, your no longer a pure person. You can walk that thin line for only so long. Once you kill, you cant go back, and no matter how hard you try you'll always have it hanging over you, eating at you. Don't make a mistake that will cost you your soul. You'll be just as damned as him." Cast started to settle down. Fox looked over at the hunter. He was unconscious. Hell, anyone would be after what Cast did.
"Cast, we may be able to save Conte if she's still alive, and also stop this hunter without killing him." Cast looked at him.
"What if Conte's really dead though…" He halfway sobbed.
"Then there's nothing we can do. But I think she may yet be alive, and so we should go with all haste. Bring her to me while I get the hunter prepared. I don't know how long he'll be unconscious." Cast nodded and hurried back into the forest. Fox set to work tying up the hunter, and staunching the blood flow from his broken face.
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Cast worked his way back to where Conte was laying. He entered the clearing, and went to where she lay. He picked her up and headed back to Fox.
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Fox finished tying up the hunter and hefted him over his shoulder just as Cast came back into the clearing. Cast stood there looking detached.
"Cast, follow me." Cast obediently followed him. They followed a twisting path through the woods. It was almost like moving through a dream to Cast. Nothing seemed to be solid and life went in and out of focus, giving him a detached sense of being. It went on forever, and when they were finished going through the ethereal track, they were at an old cabin that smelled of disuse.
Fox went up and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, an Old human woman opened the door. Her expression told volumes. She looked at Fox, and at Cast behind him. She then spoke.
"Come in, and hurry." Fox went in and Cast followed. She motioned for Fox to put the Human down. Fox complied. She walked over to Cast, and Conte who was in her arms. She put her hand on Conte's chest.
"She still draws breath. There may be a chance we can save her. Put her down on the table and wait for me to return." Cast put Conte down gently on the table as the Old woman shuffled off to a back room. Cast moved over to Fox and talked in a low voice, so the old woman be offended by his question, or apparent lack of knowledge.
"Fox, who is that?" Before Fox could reply, the old woman's voice floated from the back room, as she started to walk back.
"My name is of no importance now Cast. There are more important matters to attend to." She walked over to Conte. She had a small red vial in her hand. Cast watched silently as she sprinkled the contents over Conte's wounds. Conte shuddered and Cast moved to help her. The old woman stopped him.
"Listen well to what I have to say. Conte's wounds are grievous. Her heart is barely functioning enough to keep her body alive, and I fear her spirit may have already departed. That potion I gave her will try to mend her body and return her life force, but the process must not be interrupted. Any harm or change in her surrounding's could cause her spirit to leave forever, and cause her body to die along with it. You cannot interfere with the process." Cast looked at her.
"How long will it take her to heal?" He asked. The old woman looked at him.
"I believe three months should be adequate. But Cast, I am not one to give false hope. There is a very high probability that she will die, Despite my efforts." Cast looked at her.
"Thank you." Cast left the house quietly. Fox could not bear to see him like that. Cast was crushed, and he didn't want anybody to see it, although everybody could see it anyway.
"Mia, what should we do about this one?" Fox asked as he pointed to the hunter.
"Well, was he the one who shot this girl?" Fox nodded. Mia shook her head.
"So much hatred. When will it all end? Well, I think justice will have to be served here. Bring him into the other room, we don't want to disturb Cast's friend." They moved into the back room. It smelled faintly of some spice. Fox propped the hunter against the back wall, while Mia once again concocted some ingredients. While she was doing this, the Hunter came to.
"Wha, what, where am I?" He stated. Mia sat down in a small chair in the corner of the room, Fox stood where he was, interrogating the Hunter with his eyes. The hunter made a quick glance around the room, then started to talk.
"What are you animal's doing holding me here? Let me go! This isn't how you treat your superiors!" The hunter made obscene threats and other comments. Fox was still dwelling on the superiors comment.
"Superior? Your kind!? And what pray tell makes you so much more superior to us might I ask?" Fox asked of the hunter. The hunter however started on a different thought track, and asked a question of Fox.
"It couldn't be… I killed you. It was about 16-20 years ago. I killed you… Ah! I get it! You're his son! How ironic for me to be held here by the son whose father was the victim of my first hunt!" Fox stood slack-jawed. It wasn't possible, this old man…..
"You…. Killed… My Father?" Fox asked. The human reared his head back and laughed uproariously. It was not the laugh of a human, but more a being of pure malicious intent, steadfast in causing the most pain acutely possible. And it succeded.
"Why yes you filthy creature. It's as plain as day, you look just like him." He stated, looking Fox dead in the eyes. Fox's hand was at his dagger in a flash, and that same dagger was at the Hunter's throat in less than a second.
"You bastard. Do you know what that was like? Do you have any Idea what pain you caused my mother and I? A young kit who knew nothing of violence, to have his father murdered by some unfeeling human? Do you know what it's like to lose a father? You disgust me in the deepest depths of my being. Give me one reason I should spare your life, or do you wish I send you to your god right now?" Fox asked with a glint in his eyes. The hunter knew he was deadly serious, and he still acted with bravado.
"Then do it you animal. Prove to me that you are all that I made you out to be. Savages, creatures unworthy of respect. Creatures not worth the air they steal from us. Kill me and be damned, or live with what I did hanging over your head. Either you're your soul will be forfeit." The hunter laughed again.
"You have had your plea, now prepare for the repercussions of your actions. May the gods have no mercy on your soul." Fox raised his dagger, but Mia's voice rang through the air, stopping him from slitting the Human's throat right there. Mia stood from her small seat in the back. The hunter looked at her.
"Old woman, why do you allow this animal in your house? Have you no pride? Pride for your human heritage?" The hunter asked of her. Mia's eye's blazed from under her semi-shawl. The human could see the grave error he had made, yet he did not know what would be the consequences.
"Human you say? Human? I have seen human's, and I have seen fur's. You my dear hunter, are not human. You are a beast, worse than any fur. You have committed crimes that are an affront to all beings in this world, Human or Fur. You will pay the price for your acts, oh I will make sure of that." Mia responded, her voice rolling over the room like thunder.
"Ah, a sympathizer eh? You have no business here then, I pity you." Mia if possible looked even angrier than before.
"Pity ME? I think you need a lesson. But not an ordinary lesson. You aren't deserving of my other 'punishments'. We need something deadly serious for you." Mia stated. Fox had never seen Mia so angry, and he for one did not want to be on the receiving end of her final punishment.
"And what would you, an old woman do about it eh?" He stated. Mia looked at him flatly. Mia then started to emit an aura of white light, it consumed her, and when it left she was standing there, no longer an old woman, but a platinum vixen. Then the humans eye's widened and Mia looked at him, her face beautiful but worn with the tell tale signs of extreme anger.
"What? You're a animal to?! What the hell is this world coming too?!" He yelled.
Mia walked up to where he was tied down, and slapped him with all the considerable strength she could muster.
"There is more to heaven and earth Horatio, then was dreamt of in your philosophy." She stated in a monotone voice. She then walked over to the counter, and picked up the two similar looking vials, one was white, the other black. She mixed them together and it made a bright orange mixture, defying the color wheel. She went over to the human, and poured it over his head. He shuddered, but as soon as the liquid hit his head, it seemed to disappear, for his head was devoid of moisture.
"It is done. I will explain what I have done once, and only once. Are you listening?" She asked.
"What did you do to me you witch?!" He yelled. Mia smiled malignantly.
"It is very simple actually. I bound your essence to the girls. In laymans terms, I bound your souls. If her soul departs and leaves her body, yours will too. The best part is, although she will have respite in the after life, her body having died with her soul, your body will remain. And you will live out your life in the worst way possible, a shell, empty, with nothing on the inside, incapable of moving, speaking, or thought. And this will apply to anyone you ever harm. So you must live without harming another being for the rest of your life, or suffer the consequences." Mia looked at him with satisfaction on her face. It was out of character for her to deal such a devastating punishment, but the situation warranted it. Fox however, was still not satisfied.
"That's all well and good," he stated. "But what about my father? He wont suffer anything for murdering him. It took all I had not to kill him straight out." Fox said petulantly.
"I have not forgotten your father Fox, nor will I." Mia muttered a few words, then went spoke to Fox.
"Fox, use your claws to cut him on his chest. Not deep wounds, but enough to leave a scar." Fox complied, and the man used all his will not to yell when Fox's claws went through his chest.
"There," Mia stated. "This is a special lesson from Fox. Whenever Fox thinks about his father, how he misses him or how much he loves him, that scar will burn with the intensity of his longing. It wont be enough to disable you physically, but it will make you regret ever killing Fox's father." Fox looked at her.
"Is that all?" He asked.
"Just try it." Fox thought of when he was little, almost so long ago that he could not remember it. He and his father playing in the little castle, his father helping him get to the top. Then he was playing with his toy ball, and it rolled into Peppy's pricked bush, and how his father had stuck his arm in to get it, disregarding the fact that the bush had made him bleed. It almost made Fox cry. The human gritted his teeth for a little, then started sobbing, as the wound burned his flesh.
"I see, thank you Mia." Mia looked at him and smiled.
"Don't abuse it though. When you think about your father with the intent of hurting him, it wont work. My spells are not a method of torture." She said.
"Yes Mia." He stated.
"Alright, it's time to get him out of my sight. Put him outside the back door and untie him. He wont harm anyone anymore. The coward will fear for his own soul, so he is harmless." The hunter didn't say anthing. Fox complied, and put him outside. He cut the straps, and the hunter turned around.
"I'll get you all for this." He stated. Then he ran away. Fox went back inside.
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Cast was outside sitting on the porch. He could barely think about how bad he had messed up. He couldn't figure what had changed him so much. He used to be a nice guy, not well liked acrossed the board, but loved by those who knew him. Why did it all have to fall apart. What had changed his personality, and why had it led to the very possibility of one of his best friends death's, the one who he liked, maybe even loved? Why had he done this? It was all very confusing. How would he tell Conte's mother and Father? How could he face them? He could barely face it himself. He wanted nothing more right then than to be in his mother's arms. But it wasn't to be. She was two or three days travel away. He was supposed to go back at the end of the summer break, to graduate with the rest of his class. He wouldn't be able to do it. Not if Conte wasn't there. How would he break the news to Jason? The three of them were like siblings.
Cast silently berated himself. Conte would pull through. She had too. Cast was interrupted by Fox walking through the door. Cast spoke first.
"Fox, Im sorry. I shouldn't have hit you, and I shouldn't have tried to kill that human. I don't know what to do Fox. My world is crashing down, and I've caused so many people such pain in such a short time. My real personality isn't like this. I just don't know what to do." He said.
"Well, there's not a lot you can do. I've seen your real personality Cast, I saw how happy you were. These are dark times Cast, the animosity between humans and furs has never been greater. It produces people like that hunter, and in the face of such evil times, we have to find strength, we have to stick together. I don't think a war is going to come Cast, but I think we are already fighting." Fox replied sadly.
"I just don't know. Will you tell me something Fox?" Cast asked.
"Sure." Fox replied.
"Who is that old woman?" He asked sheepishly.
"Mia? She's an old aquaintance of mine. She's a very reliable and loving person, but she has a vested intrest in justice. She gave the hunter his due." He said flatly.
"So she's like, a witch?" Fox laughed.
"Most witches are evil, she's more like a free spirit, who has learned a few tricks." Fox said.
"Ah."
"Don't worry Cast. The hunter wont hurt anyone anymore." Cast nodded then got up. He walked back the way they had come, and Fox didn't try to follow him.
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Cast hummed a sad tune while he walked. And the words from a song followed him in his head, nagging at the back of his conciousness.
Wake me up….Wake me up inside
Save me
Call my name and Save me from the dark.
Wake me up
Bid my blood to run, before I come undone
Save me
Save me from the nothing I've become.
Cast found himself singing the words, and It depressed him even more. It was very applicable. All of a sudden, Cast heard some kind of a stringed instrument playing nearby. He followed the sound of the voice, and when he reached it's source. He saw a Gray Fox, playing a guitar. He looked at Cast.
"Hey, Im a traveling Bard, and I've got a song for you to listen to. Care to cross my palm with a piece of silver?" He asked. Cast complied, if only because of curiosity. Then the old fox started playing on his guitar, an old wooden one, a soft melancholy tune.
I am victim of my time
A product of my age
There was no choosing my direction
I was a holy man but now,
With all trials behind me,
I am weak in my conviction
And so I walk, to try to get away
Knowing that someday I'll finally have to face
The fear that will come, from knowing that
The one thing I had left was you, and now your gone
You were a victim of my crimes,
A product of my rage
You were a beautiful distraction
See I kept you locked away outside,
And let misery provide,
And now I am shamed.
And so I walk, to try to find some space,
Where I can be alone, to live my mistakes,
And the fear that will come from knowing the one thing I had left was you
And now your gone
Is there nothing at all
That I can do to turn your heart
Is there nothing to lean on
That can help erase the scars
Te quiero, Me quiero
And I could use a little strength before I fall
Is there nothing at all?
The fox continued for a while, and Cast realized that If he didn't change, it would be him like that. Cast turned to walk away, having heard enough. But after he had turned away, the music faded, and when he turned around, there was no one there, and his coin was on the ground.
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Authors note: Sorry It took me forever to get this done I apologize. Between school, my internet screwing up, and The Legend of Zelda (Windwaker) I have had next to no free time. I made up for it by making this chapter extra long and extra good (I hope). Muchos Gracias to Arlando for helping me out a ton with a lot of the ideas with this chapter. Hopefully I didn't butcher anything to much. I realize that people may think that the story is getting off track (It IS a boxing story), but do realize that in my style I do have a TON of backstory, and lots of other little plot elements. It makes it so when I do finish this (This damn thing is looking at close to 30 chapters) when I wrap everything up at the end, it'll make you think "I shoulda seen that coming!" Only you didn't. Which makes me feel special. ^^ As always reviews are welcome, and peace out!