Life As A Fox

Chapter 87

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Rebel looked to the enemy lines, a tremor of something going down her spine, she could feel it, as though it was carried upon the wind. She could feel their thoughts and harbored feelings, she could sense that something bad was growing out there. She growled baring her teeth, she did not like it.

"Easy girl, save it for the battle" She turned to One-Who-Follows. She softened and relaxed. "I can't help it, something is bad" he sighed "That may be, but something tells me that these human and demons can face it." She glanced to him "How can you be sure? How can you have faith enough in them?"

He glanced to her, "I don't know, it's hard to explain, like a lot of things that have happened to us, it's a feeling in my gut that is telling me." He turned "Just look at them" She turned and did so. "Look at all the demons, bonding together, talking, they are together not just because they have the same beliefs or because they follow a leader who told them to be here, each and every one of them are here because they want to be."

She glanced to him, "But wanting does not always win." "Your right it doesn't, but this is different, all of them, are united together, each one would give his life to another, each one feels pain and sorrow when they lose another." She shook her head "But pain and sorrow would weaken your resolve, why would you keep fighting if you knew you would loose more?"

He glanced to her "Because they know if they didn't fight they would loose all, they would rather lose some now, than loose all later, but the thing is when one dies...it seems as though they get stronger, they don't pine away in defeat and grieve, they fight back with more ferocity, with more strength, which is why I know, they will win."

"I see your point to some degree...but I do not see how a person's death could strengthen you, how dying would be important." "Okay, how about this Rebel, what would you feel if I died?" She froze as her heart stopped beating for a second, she could not imagine, how could she live in a world where he was not there? He had followed her from day one, he protects her and supports her, even cares for her!

She looked into his eyes, she never wanted to lose this sight, she never wanted to forget this, he was the only other like her, well there was Free-One and One-Who-Vanquishes, but neither of them housed the same closeness as he did. She couldn't speak her voice caught in her throat, emotion over whelmed her.

She turned and ran, he yelled out her name. She closed her eyes, how was this possible? This feeling, as though your life could end when another person's did? Why was she so attached to him? Why did she have such feelings? Why was she so reliant on him? Was it a weakness or a strength?

She ran through the streets going into back ally's and places not traveled, until she came to a dead-end. Panting she leaned her head against the stone, getting her strength from it. She heard light padding behind her. He had followed her, of course he had followed her. She turned angry at him, he backed away confused.

She yelled "Why did you do that!Why would you ask me such a thing? Why would you make me feel that...pain, the though of losing...Don't you ever say such things to me again! I could take any other death but yours! So don't make me think about it!" He stepped forward his eyes serious, she who had always been the leader, the strong one, crumbled under that gaze.

She lowered her eyes, he stepped forward again even closer. She glanced up, her heart beating faster at his nearness. He leaned down and tentatively his muzzle pressed against hers. She relaxed as the feeling of being safe overwhelmed her. When he was near everything was okay, nothing bad could happen.

She stepped forward as well, rubbing her muzzle against his cheek and neck, then rubbing her head against his chest. He stood there letting her do it. She could hear the rabid beat of his heart the strength resonating in his chest. She rested her head and just listened for a bit.

"I won't do it" he said at last. "What?" she whispered, "I won't make you think of such things again...I just needed to know." he said "know what?" she asked him turning her head looking into his eyes. "If you felt the same about me, if you thought that the thought of losing me, was just as bad as my thoughts about losing you."

She nodded, her eyes, suddenly wet, wat was wrong with her? Was this natural? He leaned down and looked into her eyes, then his tongue slowly peeked out of his lips, and gracefully it fell upon her cheeks, licking away the evidence. She felt shocks run up and down her spine, as a heat began to build inside of her,

Playfully, with the excitement she licked back, they nudged and butted each other, pressing themselves against each other as they both tried to over power the other. One-Who-Follows finally did, then they lay on the ground next to each other, nipping each others ears and faces.

All the while, the excitement built, and the heat enveloped her, she wanted more, but she didn't understand what. It wasn't until they were rolling around on the ground, wrestling with each other did she know, some sore of instinct overcame her and she knew what she needed and wanted.

She laid on her stomach then, and waited for him. He stood over her, he too finally understanding. She looked into his eyes, it was then on this day, that marked that even the Lumenion could become mated pairs.

Later that evening, Naruto sat with Kiba, Akamaru was recovering, he slept peacefully as his body healed, he would never be able to go on missions again though, he would be retired and used for breeding most likely, one of his pups of course would be given to Hime, for she would start training her own ninken just as her father did, but of course that wouldn't be for a little while.

Kiba patted his head while he slept "We've been through it all haven't we boy? Well now is your time to rest and relax, you did enough for me already." Naruto nudged him "What are you going to do then? Kiba sighed I have to have a familiar, it is family tradition, plus half my jutsu's need a ninken."

Naruto nodded "So does Akamaru have any brothers or sisters that you will use?" Kiba shook his head "no, I will just go and get a young one, there are many without partners, don't worry it's not uncommon, even our dogs don't last forever, most Inuzaka, go through two to three dogs, but we always stay loyal to each one...it's just hard, they are like people to us, like family."

Naruto nodded I understand-"Wolfheart!" Naruto sighed as Rebel came in, then he jumped to his feet was it an attack? "What? What is it?" She panted "Something...something happened, something beautiful...but confusing, I don't know how to describe it." Wolfheart sighed "I-"What the hell! It's a Lumenion!" Naruto groaned, he forgot, over worried Kiba stayed by Akamaru's side and didn't go out. He became a hermit to the rest of the world.

"There are a few on our side now" Naruto said quietly. "What!" Kiba exclaimed, "how come nobody told me!" he said angrily. Naruto snapped back in anger as well. "If you weren't like an over worried house wife when it came to your dog you would know this!" Kiba stared at him, he didn't have anything to say, he blushed and looked down. "Sorry" he said sheepishly. Naruto shook his head, that wasn't good enough."Don't apologize to me, apologize to Hinata when you get your head out of your ass, she has been here several times, and all you do is completely ignore her and worry about Akamaru."

Kiba groaned and leaned his head against his hands. "I know I know! I can't help it" Naruto rolled his eyes "Well learn, now excuse me" Naruto said turning back to Rebel "You were saying?" "It was amazing" she said. "What?" he asked her. She spoke quickly, "I didn't think we Lumenion can do it, I didn't think such...things existed, that we could feel such things, but we did."

Naruto was staring at her "What happened?" "I don't know" "Well...describe what you did" he said confused. "Well, me and One-Who-Follows were up on the tall...thing" "The wall" Naruto said giving her the correct word. She nodded "yes that, and we got on the subject of death, and he asked me how I would feel if he died."

He nodded not really following what was going on. "And...?" he asked "Well, I was hurt when he asked that, and ran away, but he followed after me, which I was happy he did, because for some odd reason he makes me happy when he is near...and safe, but anyways, I ran into one of those ally ways that end."

Naruto nodded getting the picture, "Then we, kept talking, and we decided that we need each other, that we without the other, life is...not life." Naruto nodded he thought something like this would happen, it was only a matter of time. She interrupted his thoughts. "Then! We touched muzzles! And licked each other! It felt amazing!" Naruto blanched, "Ah, Rebel, I am happy for you and all, but you don't have to tell me this-" "then we were rolling on the ground with each other and his organ went into my-"Rebel!" Naruto yelled embarrassed.

She stopped, afraid for a second from his out burst. He looked to her, his eyes closed. "You...don't have to describe it anymore, I understand what happened." She glanced to the human in the room, he was staring at her, but he had a small smile on his face, that looked like he was trying to cover up. She ignored him and turned back to Wolfheart. "Oh...well what did happen?" she asked.

"You...er..." Naruto glanced to Kiba, who was smirking at him. Naruto glared at him, why was it that he always has to have these kinds of conversations? What did the world have against him?

Naruto spoke, looking deeply into her eyes."You guys have become mates, you love each other" he said serious. She cocked her head. "Love? What is love?" she asked. Naruto sighed, "It is the feeling as though you are floating, every time you see them; it is as if your heart would burst or stop beating when you hear them speak." He drifted off for a moment, then he completed his thought. "It is when everything has gone astray, you know you can trust on them and lean on them no matter what happens; it is when you find a soul that links to yours and you know, you cannot be without them."

She stared at him he described it perfectly, she wished she could be as good with her words as he. "Yes, that is exactly, how I feel about One-Who-Follows, I can trust on him for anything, and he is the only one who can make me happy at times." He nodded and smiled at her "good, then why don't you go be with him now, I am guessing you would like some catching up."

She shook her head "no, no, we joined so many times today, I am so very tired, I need a break from him." He glanced up at the ceiling then closed his eyes, "ah well then." He opened his eyes and glanced around, "Why don't you go find a place to sleep for the night?" He said ushering her out of the tent. She nodded and turned going outside he called out to her "and don't forget to eat!" She turned and nodded "I have already eaten my fill, but thank-you, I shall go."

Naruto sighed as she walked away. He turned back to Kiba, who broke out in a laughter. "Shut-up!" Naruto yelled at him. Kiba snorted. Naruto despite himself laughed at that. He pulled himself next to Kiba, "What am I becoming now? Anbu General, and apparently I am teaching a new species how to live in this world." Kiba nodded "Yeah it seems so, but if anyone can do it, it would be you."

Naruto groaned and exclaimed "Why me?" then he slammed his muzzle into the mattress, burying his head there for a moment.

Rebel slept peacefully, curled nearby One-Who-Follows, he had found her after a while, and he had nuzzled her then curled up nearby, she relaxed against him as they slept. But she awoke, something was warning her in the back of her mind. She rose, all was quiet, all slept soundly.

She looked into the night, most would not be able to see in such darkness, but she could, Lumenion were very good at seeing at night. Under the cover of darkness she padded up to the wall, her instinct guiding her. She gazed out something was shifting in the far off darkness, as if waking, a terrible and angry beast, finally unfurling in its sleep, and casting its gaze to them.

She shivered, she stayed up there the entire night, nothing had come, and yet she felt like something would be coming, but she seemed to be the only one, the next day, when no enemy came once more, the ninja's grew more lax. So did the demons, they laughed and played games with each other, or had friendly competitions.

One-Who-Follows and the others seemed though to sense her discomfort, they stayed near her the entire day, they too seemed to sense that she was sensing something in the wrong, but what was it? "What are you doing up here?" Wolfheart asked her as she stared down at the populace.

"Do you not sense it? That feeling? That something is watching us? He exhaled "Sometimes, during war, we start sensing or feeling things that aren't always true, it will drive you insane, make you not sleep, make you not eat, all you want to do is worry over it, the Anbu has warned us of this sort of thing, so sometimes it's a good thing to drag your mind from war, let it rest and refresh for a bit, that's what you should do as well."

She sighed, she understood the worth of Wolfheart's words, but she felt that he was wrong, but she didn't want to seem rude to him so she nodded "I understand." He grinned "Good, now relax for the day okay?" She nodded and he turned and padded away, Rebel watched as he went.

She turned back to watching the enemy line, she couldn't help it, but she knew Wolfheart was wrong. She ended up dozing around afternoon time. But she awoke to the sounds of snarls. She snapped awake, when she recognized the voice of One-Who-Follows. She rushed to see him fighting with Wolfheart, a group of demons surrounding them.

She ran down ready to help him but Free-One stopped her "Relax, it's okay, they aren't really fighting" She looked at him "What do you mean! Look they are lunging at each other!" "It's called practice, it's where you fight each other but do not injure the other." She paused, was this true?

She looked around, the demons were not angry, in fact the looked amused. She stepped forward and watched closer. One-Who-Follows paced in a circle staring off with Wolfheart. One-Who-Follows panted as he growled. Wolfheart spoke "tiring already?" One-Who-follows snapped his jaws "never" he said.

She had to admit he could be intimidating when he wanted to be. He lunged at Wolfheart but Wolfheart was quick and easily danced away from One-Who-Follows. She growled she finally understood the competitive nature of things, this want for something else to beat the other.

"Come on One-Who-Follows! Get him!" she roared. He turned and glanced at her, then he gave her a sly grin, something that he started doing recently. She allowed herself to smile back as well, a sense of knowing building between them. Wolfheart attacked next, One-Who-Follows dodged his fangs easily, Lumenion were quite agile.

One-Who-Follows came back by slipping underneath and butting his head into Wolfhearts jaw. Wolfheart grunted as he was knocked back. One-Who-Follows followed up by using his long nimble limbs with their wicked long claws to attack, making Wolfheart give ground. But Wolfheart came back as well.

He barreled forward using his strength, making One-Who-Follows back away. Pushing One-Who-Follows more and more into a corner, he could only dodge the blows not counter attack. One-Who-Follows gritted his fangs, what could he do? He did not have powers like the demons, he could not put up a shield, he only had his saliva, which he did not want to use, because he did not want to harm his ally.

He growled, what could he do? But something came to him, an eye in his mind seemed to open up and grant him the sight, the knowledge of something he did not even know existed, the powers of Lumenion. Was there more to them? He took a deep breath only one way to find out, he pushed with that strength that he had coiled inside of him, never used before this moment.

It flowed through him in a rapid pace, filling each limb and each part of him. Then he turned that power over in his mind, forcing it to do what he imagined it to do in his mind, concentrating on it. He needed to disappear, to become like the wind, no blow could land on him yet he was able to attack and not be touched. That is what he wanted.

That is what he got. Rebel felt that flex within him, she felt his power surface, her own dormant power answered to him, beckoning, the two sources called out to each other, wanting to be together. She let out an unsteady breath as she became unbearably dizzy. She fell to her paws lying weekly on the ground.

The demons around her turned to her, unknowing of what to do, they asked if she was okay, but then their attention was cut short, as a startled gasp came from the demons in the front. All turned back to the battle. Only to see, a white mist floating, it formed the shape of a wolf like creature, the eyes like two floating orbs, burning like embers.

Wolfheart was backing away he lunged once more, but his body fell through the mist. A growl was emitted from the mist, then like fog or mist it floated and moved through the air. The ghostly apparition, the misty canine stood for a few seconds then pounced, Wolfheart was knocked backwards, and the mist was on top of him, holding him down, and he unable to combat it.

But after a few seconds more, the mist faded and it was One-Who-Follows there, although he was no longer standing, he was staggering and slowly falling to the earth, panting and looking weak and ragged. He sighed as he hit the earth. Wolfheart got up and walked to him, "are you okay?" he asked.

One-Who-Follows glanced to him, sides heaving. "I...I don't really know what happened...I...just...made it...work" Wolfheart nodded then he spoke "Looks, like you Lumenion have more to you then you think, come on, let's get you somewhere to rest, you did excellent."

"I don't understand what happened...well I do, I just...I don't know how to explain it." One-Who-Follows said as he rested in an empty place in the medic tents. Wolfheart sighed "I have somewhat of an idea, of how you feel, it seems both you Lumenion and us demons share that trait."

Rebel turned her head "Really?" she asked. Wolfheart nodded "You see, there are things, that we have, buried deep within us, talents, and abilities that don't surface until we need them exactly when we need them" Rebel shivered, that was frightening...but also comforting.

"Why?" she asked him. Once again the wolf demon sighed. He turned to her "I don't really know the reason, I think it's because, somethings, our minds shouldn't know at all times, some knowledge should only be known only by instinct and reflex." He added "Our hearts beat by reflex, imagine if we had to tell our hearts to beat? I would be dead if I had to do such a thing, so it's comes to no reason that we sometimes don't know things until the very moment we need them."

Rebel sighed as she yawned, she was so tired. She turned to Wolfheart, "So this..power within us? It is like your chakra?" Wolfheart shook his head "no, it IS chakra, you just didn't know about it, and you seem to not know how to control it, or concentrate it at length."

She sighed "Why is there so much unknown to us, by even us" Wolfheart nodded "That is a good question, one I cannot answer, not really anyway, the only thing to do, is to learn about yourselves, push yourselves, find out your limitations and find out your strengths, it takes time, but once you start doing it, you will learn so much."

Rebel nodded "Good, I think this is something that we need to do, what do you think?" She said turning to One-Who-Follows. He nodded "Yes, it is, but where do we begin?" Wolfheart spoke "with the basics, find out simple things, how fast you can run, how high you can leap, how long you can hold your breath, can you swim things like that."

She turned to him, "what is swimming?" Wolfheart was silent for a moment, "let's...not worry about that then, just go see your limits, even knowing small things helps to the greater end." She nodded "very well, I shall go practice leaping." She then turned and walked out of the tent.

She met up with Free-One and One-Who-Vanquishes. She stopped them and told them of her plan, and what Wolfheart had told her. They nodded and decided it was a good enough idea, at least it would pass the time as they waited for the battle to start-up again.

So the three of them found a clear area where no humans or demons were resting. There was some on the outskirts of the area who were resting and talking but none paid to much mind to them. Rebel decided to race around in a large circle, to see how fast they could be.

They lined up and shot off like rockets, their long ungainly limbs sweeping them over the ground like nothing else on this earth, they seemed to float over the ground, their feet barely touching, their limbs surging and stretching, as they dragged their bodies through the air.

She felt exuberant, full of energy, happy even, she charged forward going faster, Free-One joined in with her, they raced each other going faster and faster, One-Who-Vanquishes fell behind more and more. Rebel panted as her limbs began to tire, but she would not lose, she would not give in.

But even though the spirit was willing, her body was not. Slowly she fell behind and Free-One won. They all slowed and panted as their hearts calmed from the exercise. Two demons walked forward towards them, they were the thin ones, with tan fur and black and brown spots on their bodies, their bodies were long and their limbs were long as well.

Rebel remembered Wolfheart saying they were 'cheetahs' She lifted her head to them, one spoke he was a male. "You guys run fast, we thought we might challenge you to a race, you in?" She glanced towards Free-One, she spoke "I am greatly tired, but Free-One is willing."

Free-One stepped forward "I am always willing, running is so much fun, never have I gotten to run free like this!" Rebel shook her head, he acted like a young one sometimes. The cheetah growled in reply, he grinned his fangs sharp. "Then lets see what you got Lumenion."

Free-One and the cheetah demon lined up, while the other cheetah demon spoke, "first one to go three times around this area is winner." He said explaining the rules. Free-One nodded and then the cheetah counted down when he said "go" both cheetah and Lumenion were off. The cheetah accelerated at a faster pace then Free-One, but Free-One wasn't to far behind him.

The first lap, the cheetah was winning, Free-One five strides behind him. But after half of the second lap, the cheetah began to tire, his speed only worked for short distances. Free-One surged ahead, decreasing the stride lengths in rapid pace, first ten, then five, then three, soon he was along the cheetah, then they were neck and neck and then, with a last burst of speed Free-One broke though on the last half of the third lap. Taking the lead and beating the cheetah by five strides.

Both parties were exhausted and panted as One-Who-Vanquishes and Rebel ran to him. Free-One looked happy and proud for some reason. The cheetah spoke "You...you sure can run, I am honored to race you." Free-One bowed his head "Thanks" He looked to One-Who-Vanquishes, "What did you think?" he asked her excitedly, apparently he really wanted her thoughts on the matter.

She flicked an ear and smiled, "It was good." She then turned and walked away. Free-One sighed as he deflated. Rebel felt bad for him. "It's okay" she said. Not sure why or what she was comforting. Rebel yawned suddenly, she was tired, when she looked around she noticed that most everyone was, they had many competition that day, both humans and demons alike, so everyone just wanted to go to bed.

She found herself heading that way as well. The sun was descending, and twilight was becoming the norm. The darkness shadowing overhead, spreading like a fog. Demons, humans and the few Lumenion were retiring to their beds, welcoming the sweet embrace of sleep. Rebel had curled up and got relaxed, she closed her eyes, welcoming sleep as well.

Then she heard the deadly screech of a flying Lumenion, as it signalled the beginning of an attack.

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