Chapter 13:
Since it was still daylight, Naruto put all of his ninja skills to good use keeping track of the hunters and everything they did. They set traps in the forest which Naruto disabled and replaced with a few tricks of his own. He marked where he had left each trap for later that evening. He overheard what the hunters were saying and everything they planned. Since they knew foxes mostly came out at night, they decided to going into the mountain that evening to hunt them down. The prince wanted them all gone.
Naruto was so busy keeping track of everything the hunters were doing that he did not return to the palace for dinner. He didn't even tell the rest of his team where he was. This was more important. It was a good thing he decided to stay and keep watch over them because he overheard them mention that one hunter was going to be on the farm that night just in case any foxes came down to raid the garden. There were four hunters in total. If one was going to be on the farm, then the remaining three would be in the mountain.
As the sun began to set, the hunters gathered their weapons and started to move out.
Naruto had to warn the kitsune.
What he really wanted to do was go over to the hunters and beat them up. He couldn't. He knew that wouldn't be enough to stop them since they were hired to do a job and that it would only get him in more trouble. The kitsune had to be warned. He would help them fight. Their lives were at stake.
As the clouds began to turn red in the evening sky, Naruto began to run. He raced through the town and into the woods. The hunters were just starting to leave the palace grounds. Naruto knew where the kitsune met up but he hoped to catch them before they made their way down the mountain to the small clearing. It would take a while for an average human to climb up the side of a mountain to the cliff towering over the town. For a ninja, it would take mere seconds or even minutes depending on how treacherous the land formation was. Rocks could always shift and slide underfoot making things more difficult.
Naruto made it to the face of the mountain and started to climb as fast as he could. He jumped from one stone to another, thankful he was still human for the time being. However, as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Naruto lost his balance and fell. He gripped the rock in front of him with both paws and clung for dear life. A fall from this height would surely kill him. Especially as he was now. He swung his legs up and managed to throw himself on top of the rock to continue his climb. Just another few leaps and he was there. Two jumps. Now one. His paws touched grass.
Naruto looked around. His shadow was no longer visible on the ground. The birds had stopped their songs and the insects were just beginning theirs.
From the trees atop the mountain emerged the kitsune. They were starting to head out.
"Guys!"
Lunabell was the first to notice him. "Hey, everyone, look. Naruto's come up the mountain to greet us."
"That's a first," said Aurora. "We usually meet him down below."
"He must be getting an early start."
Naruto bounded forward to stop them from going down the mountain. "Wait! Stop! Don't!"
"Don't what?" asked Eago. "Something wrong?"
The other foxes were leaving the trees now. Everyone was present. Even Ryosuke.
"Guys, you can't go down the mountain," said Naruto. "It's important. I came here to warn you."
"Warn us what?" asked Sonar.
Without thinking about how they would react to such news, Naruto blurted it out in one breath. "Too many people have been complaining about you guys coming down from the mountain and going into town to get food so the prince hired some hunters to go after you."
Sheer panic.
"What?!"
"Hunters?!"
"They're here tonight," Naruto added. It wasn't the best idea.
All the kitsune were terrified. They all started yelling at once and some were so worked up they couldn't keep still so their paws continued to stamp the ground as if ready to run.
"What do we do?!"
"They're coming to kill us!"
"Hang on! Hang on!" Naruto chimed in. "Don't worry. I kept track of their movements all day. I disabled the traps they left in the woods."
Sammi turned to him. "You did?"
"Yup." Naruto smiled. "I'm not going to let them hurt you."
"Be that as it may, they're still coming for us, right?" said Aurora. "We have to do something."
"I'll help you fight back!" Naruto yipped.
"No," said Ryosuke firmly. "We do not attack humans. That is a basic rule of kitsune. We don't attack humans. We are to give them no reason to think we are dangerous. By trying to harm them now, it will only give them proof and then more people will come and try to hurt us."
"Well, maybe not attack, but we can still fight back, right?"
Sonar looked around. "It will take them some time to climb the mountain if that is what they are planning. Normal humans can't climb up that steep part easily. If they go around the other side, it will be easier but it will take some time because the distance is so long. Either way, it will be hard for them."
Lunabell was close to tears. "Is this our fault? Is the prince mad at us for breaking the rules and going into town? Is that why he's doing this?"
The other kitsune tried to comfort her. "No. It's alright."
"It's only because we were so hungry. That's all. Why do we have to die for that?" she cried.
"The humans shouldn't have stopped the offerings," said Eago. "It's them who started it."
"But why did they stop?"
"We don't know."
"Let's get back to the hunters. We are in the middle of a huge problem. We have to do something about it."
The kitsune looked at each other.
"What do we do?"
"Maybe we should hide?"
"They'll find us. They're hunters. They won't leave until the job is done."
"Then should we fight back like Naruto said?"
"How do we fight humans without looking like the enemy?"
"Yeah, we can't go against our rules. Never harm humans."
"What if we run away?"
"But this is our home!"
"That's right! We were born here. Our ancestors were born here. This was our land until the humans came and built that town down below. They pushed us up the mountain. We were here first."
"But we tried to live in peace and now all this!"
"We had an agreement."
"Maybe we should have chased them out. It was our land first. How much more are they going to take from us?"
"There's enough room for both," said Ryosuke. "Even our ancestors saw that. They needed a place to live, too. We both have a right to be here. We can live in peace. We did in the past."
"But now look, Ryosuke! There isn't enough food anymore. The offerings stopped and when we try to feed ourselves, they try to kill us. If they had never shown up in the first place, we would have had all the land and none of the human problem."
"But the humans also provide for us. Sure, when the town was built, it pushed a lot of animals out but a lot remained. The humans waste food, sure, but those scraps were what we got. It helped us."
"But now they've stopped."
"I'm aware of that. But we can't condemn them. After all, I seem to recall a past when we pulled pranks and scared the humans for laughs."
The kitsune didn't deny it.
"Besides, we help each other without realizing it half the time. The mice we eat in order to survive out here... If we didn't eat them, the mice would go into town and eat the human's food and get into their homes. Humans don't want an infestation of mice. We help them. And maybe dangerous animals and creatures either respect or fear kitsune so we're also protecting the humans from them. If we left the land, they would be open to all sorts of dangers. In turn, humans give us food. But they also outlawed hunting on this land so we never have to worry about being killed."
"Yeah, until now."
"It's only because we come into town," said Seki.
"Yeah. So, if the offerings start up again, we won't have to. Why are they being so stubborn?"
"Driven out of our own home..." Sammi shook his head. "I hate this."
Naruto saw that there was no leadership among them. They did need a leader. No one could decide what to do or how to go about it. Some thought it was all because of the humans and some knew it was also their fault for driving the humans to do this. Naruto had to help them. "Hey, guys. Listen."
"What?"
"I told you that you can fight back, but that doesn't mean attacking the humans."
"How else are we supposed to do it then?" asked Sonar.
"Easy," Naruto said smiling. "You did it all the time before your agreement, right? Pranks! You guys can us your fox magic to scare the humans away. Or at least confuse them so much that they give up and leave and never want to come back."
The kitsune took that into consideration. From the looks on their faces, Naruto could tell that they thought it was a good idea.
"I'm not sure..."
"I mean we could, but..."
"Will that work?"
"I like the idea."
"What if it's not good enough? Is there something else?"
Naruto sighed. They were still unsure. Even if a few of them wanted to do it, others who disagreed would talk them out of it or put the idea down as a bad one. He couldn't get them to do what he wanted. It was like trying to get a group of indecisive children to play a game no one could agree on. This was impossible.
Ryosuke lifted his head and looked at his confused and frightened kitsune. The threat was here and what were they doing? Taking a deep breath, Ryosuke stood and spoke confidently to his fellow kitsune.
"The way I see it, we have two options. We can either run or we can fight."
The kitsune lifted their gazes toward him.
"If we leave, it would mean abandoning everything we've ever known. Everything we've ever had. We've been here all our lives. Long before humans came along and built their home in the shadow of our own. We have friends here. Family. This is our home. Will we abandon it after all these years? The kitsune who came before us didn't. They remained on this land and found a way to make it work. Will we do what they did not and leave? Even if it is easier, even if it is an option, will we do it? Can we do that to ourselves? Abandon our home and everyone in it? Leave behind our friends? While we possess the ability to run away, those who have been cursed cannot. Will we leave them behind? Will we abandon our family?"
Seki's eyes glittered in the light of the arriving stars, no doubt thinking about his brother.
"They are still alive. Are we to just leave them?"
The kitsune couldn't live with themselves if they did that. Running was not an option.
"We can stand and fight. That is our other option. We can put our skills to good use and help defend our home. We can make it safe for when we are reunited with our friends and family. We can show the humans that we are not some mere simple animals. But that we are so much more than that. We are kitsune. We are foxes with the ability to speak as humans, reason like humans and we have power beyond that of either kind. For years, we have been on this land and never moved, no matter how hard things became. When food was scarce, we remained. When our friends were cursed, we stayed. We did not abandon our home. We did not abandon our friends or our family. We protect them!"
When Ryosuke spoke, he sounded like a true leader. Even Naruto felt like following him, no matter where it took him. He believed in him. And now, clearly, Ryosuke believed in himself.
"Will we abandon them or will we fight?"
The kitsune stood with their heads held high. They weren't going anywhere.
This was their home.
"Then we fight." Ryosuke turned his head toward the cliff. "We will show them what we can do. We will defend our home and those precious to us."
"So, what's the plan, Ryosuke?" asked Sonar.
They truly did see him as a leader. With Ryosuke taking charge, Naruto was sure they would make it far. They needed him.
"It's as Naruto said. We use our skills." Ryosuke turned his head to Naruto. "You saw them and you've been watching them all day, right? How does it look? Their weapons and traps, their location, everything."
"When I last saw them before I changed, they were just leaving the palace. There are four hunters. One is going to stay on the farm, but the other three are going into the mountain."
"Alright." Ryosuke looked back at the other kitsune. "We can do this. Let's get ready everyone."
The tall grass seemed to shush the hunters as they walked through the forest, their heavy footsteps too loud for those that lived here. Even the insects flew off as the hunters walked by, frightened of these giants and their weapons. They stepped out of the grass and into a clearing.
"I would really rather do this during the day," whispered one of the hunters. "Can't see a damn thing."
"You know foxes sleep during the day," said the second. "It would be next to impossible to find them. We would have better luck looking during their hunting hours."
"Makes little sense to me."
"Don't worry," said the third. "Any we miss, we'll check the traps in the morning for their bodies. Unless they chew their legs off first. Won't last long if they do that, though."
"Maybe the people around here should learn to cover their trash so they won't attract animals. It's their own fault."
"Shut up. We're getting paid, aren't we?"
"For a prince he isn't offering much."
"You two keep your voices down."
"You're talking, too, genius."
Naruto, now master of new skills, sneaked up behind the hunters with ease. Using a combination of ninja skills and fox hunting skills, Naruto easily followed behind the men without being noticed. Naruto's heart was pounding from excitement. It was like being a child again. He wanted to pop out and surprise them, like a child hiding behind a curtain and then jumping out to yell 'boo'. This was so much fun. Fun as much as it was serious.
One stealthy step at a time, Naruto crept behind the hunters. His paws pressed into the soft soil as he walked. He made sure to inhale as much as possible as he stalked them, as Ryosuke taught him. He had to remember their scent in case they separated.
One of the hunters began to turn around. Naruto jumped back behind a tree.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. I was just making sure nothing was behind us."
"I told you to keep quiet. You'll scare them off."
Naruto smirked. "I'll give them something to be scared of." He moved around the trees until he was right behind them. "Fox fire."
A small blue flame appeared. It danced and waved and skipped closer to the men and then it began to grow in size. Bigger and bigger until it took shape and a large bear stood behind the men. The illusion stood perfectly still, waiting for them to turn around.
As if sensing something, one of the men looked back. "Bear!"
The other men spun around.
It was a staring contest. The bear was motionless and so were the men. The men were too afraid to move out fear it would provoke the animal into attacking. The bear didn't move because Naruto didn't want it to.
Until now. Smirking, Naruto moved the bear. It raised its arms and opened its mouth in a silent roar.
Two of the men ran. The third one stayed behind and raised his weapon. He took aim at the bear's head and fired off one arrow. It passed right through the illusion and into a tree. Naruto climbed up the tree and bit the arrow in half, making it useless in case the hunter tried to retrieve it. The illusion remained where it was.
"What the hell?" The hunter moved closer. He knew he hit it. Where was the arrow?
Naruto turned the illusion around and made it walk away. He didn't want the man to find out that the bear wasn't really there.
Further away, the two men screamed, causing the hunter to turn back. "You ok?" he called into the woods. When he didn't receive an answer, he wandered deeper into the woods.
Naruto followed behind him. He stopped running when he saw the two hunters from before running away from something in the trees. Giant bats. They were swarming around their heads, flapping their wings and screeching. In the branches, Naruto saw Seki and Sonar using their fox fire. All an illusion. Naruto smiled up at them. They lowered their paws and the bats vanished moments later.
While the hunters talked excitedly and tried to find the bats, Aurora appeared on the ground and stood there.
"There! Look!" pointed a hunter.
"That's one of them." The bowman of the group took aim.
Naruto, who was standing right behind him took in a deep breath and... "Boo!"
The hunter, startled by the sudden noise, missed his target and Aurora ran off into the forest. "Who did that?!" the hunter snapped.
"Did what?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Who yelled 'boo' to try and scare me?" he demanded.
"We didn't say anything."
Naruto snickered. Then he darted out between their legs and ran out in front of them.
"Another one! Get it!"
Naruto dodged the arrow sailing by his head and ran up the hill. The hunters were following him. Naruto looked around to see where he was. This was where he had disabled one of their traps. It was a bear trap they had hidden under the dead leaves. Naruto used a kunai to disable it and moved the closed and therefore harmless bear trap off to the side. There it was, right where he left it, nestled between the roots of a tree. He jumped over the roots and went off into the woods.
The hunters following him came to a sudden stop. "I put a bear trap here. It's under the leaves."
"Then the fox must have tripped it."
"No, I didn't hear a sound. Maybe it missed it."
"We can't go through there. We'll walk right into our own trap. Let's go around the other way."
Which was exactly what Naruto wanted them to do.
As they moved to go a different direction, one of the hunters snagged the wire Naruto left and tripped. "Ow!" As he tried to push himself up with his hands, he felt something sticky on his palms. It was all over his front, too. "Ew! What is this stuff?"
One of the hunters knelt down for a better look. "It's syrup. Syrup and honey."
"Gross!"
"There's a whole puddle of it here."
"What the hell?!" The hunter tried to clean himself off. The more he tried, the more it spread. Now leaves were sticking to him. He tried to remove his jacket, which had its pockets filled with more hunting tools he needed. He could either leave it behind or deal with a sticky jacket all night. He chose to leave it behind. "What is that stuff doing here anyway? Someone's cheap idea of a prank?"
"Who knows?"
Naruto appeared on a low branch and watched the hunters from above.
"There it is!" The bowman took aim again. Naruto jumped away and he missed. "Damn. It went this way."
Naruto led them further into the woods. He passed another tree with a scratch in the trunk. Another trap of his was in this area. This one he was particularly proud of. He stopped running and sat on a stone between two trees.
"I see it." The bowman crouched behind a bush and took aim at Naruto.
Above in the tree, Sammi took his own aim and jumped down. His body passed into the hunter's and the man's body went tense. He turned his arms to the side and fired an arrow at the rope to the right of Naruto. Sammi jumped out of the hunter's body and scampered back up the tree.
"Where are you aiming?" asked one of the other hunters.
The rope snapped and suddenly one of the hunters was gone.
"Where's...?"
"Help me!"
The two looked up and saw their comrade hanging from a net above their heads. Naruto's trap was a success. Since Naruto had seen one of the hunters use a net as one of their traps, he decided to use one of his own on them.
"Get me down from here!"
Naruto scampered closer to the hunters just to tease them a little more and then took off again, a little slower this time.
"It's right there!"
"We'll come back for you. Just let us get this one."
"Wait a minute! Hey! Get me down!"
Naruto led the two hunters away from the other and over to the next group who was ready and waiting.
"Fox fire."
The illusion of twenty foxes appeared on the ground and waited for the hunter. They took the bait. The hunters began to attack the illusions. The bowman used all of his arrows on the illusions which Naruto quickly snatched up and broke in two. Now the arrows were useless and he didn't have any more to fire.
"I'm out," the hunter said to his friend. "I'm out of arrows."
The hunter with the blade stopped swinging. "I don't get it. Why aren't these things dying? There's still so many and I can't find a single body of any of the ones we've hit. We can't be missing them."
"I don't get why they aren't running away."
The illusions faded away and the hunters were left standing in the dark, alone.
"What the hell is this place?" asked the one with the blade.
Treading carefully, the men went back to free their companion.
Naruto was grinning widely. He could tell these men were getting scared. The kitsune weren't doing much but it was enough to frighten the hunters into thinking the forest was haunted. "Psst, guys!" Naruto whispered into the tree. "Where's Ryosuke?"
"He went to the farm. He said he would wait there."
"Ok." Naruto went in the direction of the farm. He wanted to get all the hunters together. That would make chasing them off a lot easier.
When Naruto reached the edge of the forest, he noticed that something wasn't right. Ryosuke wasn't where he was supposed to be. Not only that, but something was moving in the garden. He moved closer and slipped under the fence. The garden was quiet but he could tell something was amiss. He crept closer and closer. "Ryosuke?" he whispered. "You here? Ryosuke?"
There was no answer.
Naruto moved further into the garden. The rows of plants were undisturbed. No one had raided tonight. He tried to track Ryosuke's scent. He kept low to the ground and sniffed the soil. Ryosuke's scent was very faint. He was definitely here tonight. Where was he now?
Something moved. Naruto could hear a faint groaning sound like wood and twine being stretched. His ears flicked. Something was sent into the air. Naruto ducked as an arrow passed between his ears and sank into the side of the stables. Naruto looked up. The hunter was there with a bow of his own. There were two bowmen. This one still had all his arrows.
Naruto started running. The hunter followed after him, reaching for another arrow. Naruto moved quickly, the grass tickling his stomach as he fled across the yard. He went behind the stable and was grabbed by someone. Ryosuke held Naruto back with his paws. "Ryosuke!"
"Shh!" he hushed. "I saw the farmer. He was too close for me to make a move so I hid here. He was going into the woods where I was hiding. I didn't want him to wander in before you guys could finish. He might have gotten you so I lured him back here. Now that he's looking for me, I can't leave."
"I was wondering why you weren't where you were supposed to be." Naruto heard footsteps. "He's coming. Let's go."
Naruto and Ryosuke ran around the other side of the stables just as the hunter made his way around the other side. This was there chance.
"Naruto, I saw him bending down a lot. I think he was setting up traps."
"At night? But they didn't set any here when I was watching them."
"I think it's something he decided to do just now. We have to be careful. Walk carefully."
Naruto heard the hunter behind them. They had to move. They scampered in front of the stables where the ground was more flat and there was little grass. It would be difficult to set a trap here. Ryosuke was getting away from him. Naruto sped up.
Then his body stopped completely and a sharp pain ran up his right leg. "Ahhh!" Naruto looked back. His back foot was caught in a trap. It looked a lot like a bear trap only it was smaller and thinner. The metal teeth sank into his foot staining the ground with blood. "Ahh! Ahh!" Naruto couldn't pull his leg out without cutting more of his flesh and he couldn't pry it open with no thumbs.
The hunter appeared and loaded an arrow into his bow. "Seems like a waste of an arrow but I know better than to try cutting you when you're trapped like that. Tear my face off, you poor frightened, injured animal."
Naruto tried to get up and run, forgetting that his leg was still caught. He pulled but once again his flesh was being stripped off his bones and more pain came, forcing him to stop what he was doing. He couldn't get away.
Then he felt some of the pressure leave his leg. Ryosuke had come running back to help his injured friend. He pressed down on one side of the trap and tried to open the other part with his teeth. If the trap closed again, it would clamp down on Ryosuke's lower jaw, causing him injury. He didn't seem to care. All he cared about was saving Naruto.
The hunter took aim at Ryosuke first.
Naruto pulled, trying to get Ryosuke's attention. Ryosuke saw the arrow pointed at his head but kept trying to free Naruto anyway. He was willing to risk his life for his friends.
"Ow!"
They looked up at the hunter's cry of pain. The hunter had dropped his bow and was grappling with the horse taking a bite out of his ear.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Damn horse! Let go!" The hunter pulled and twisted which only caused him more pain. He pushed against the horse's nose, trying to get free.
"Jack."
Jack was biting the hunter, trying to protect his friends. The horse was doing everything he could from behind his stable door to help them.
While the hunter was busy dealing with the horse, Ryosuke and Naruto went back to disabling the trap. Naruto pushed while Ryosuke pulled and scratched. The trap opened and Naruto pulled his leg out. Ryosuke released it and it clamped shut on air. They were free.
"How's your leg?"
Naruto tried putting weight on it. It stung. A lot. "I'm ok," he lied. He couldn't stop now. No matter the injury, he had to press on. He had to help them. "Let's keep going. The three in the woods are already scared."
The plan was to lure the fourth into the woods and scare them off all at once.
"If you're up to it, then let's go." Ryosuke led the way while Naruto hobbled behind.
Jack released the hunter and watched helplessly as he picked up his fallen bow and went after the two foxes. "Run, Naruto and Ryosuke!" he cried. "Run!" He could only hope that they would be ok.
Yay Jack!
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