White light flashed across Emily's eyes. The sensation made her feel like she was back in the lab being experimented on again. For a second, she hoped that was the case. That maybe she'd wake up in that lab and never had the pleasure of meeting anyone else. At least that way, she'd be able to suffer alone.
When the light faded, the sky opened up. All of the fog surrounding the blighted zone was lifted, and visibility returned in a big way. Emily looked down at Ratagast, mangled beyond belief.
She pressed her fingers against the side of his throat, but there was no breathing. His chest no longer rose and fell, and there was no doubt in the kitsune's mind that he was beyond saving. Too much of his blood was already gone and washed away into the mud.
Kitsune channeled magic into her finger tips and pressed it against his chest. The nanobots scurried along his frame, and she tried to imagine his body healing. Maybe if I just do the same thing I always do and picture it?
She swallowed and looked at his lifeless brown eyes. Even if there was some way she could save him, his death had brought with it a new phenomenon. A green aura started channeling over his frame, and for a brief moment, Emily's tail waved in anticipation.
Though, it was short lived. The magic started making his body dissipate into particles of green light.
"No!" Emily shouted, trying to grab the particles with her hand, but they slipped through. Each time she reached for them, they passed through her like a ghost.
"No..."
She looked down at his fading body, tears filling her eyes. Why did this have to happen? Was it the snake? Was it the world and the blight around her? No, it was me.
Emily recalled his hands pushing her out of the way. If only I had seen it coming. If only I had stayed behind. He wouldn't have had to...
Her chest bore the weight of her new sin. It tightened in response to her heightened emotions. She watched the last of his body fade away, leaving behind only his robes and the storage device.
The kitsune stood up and grabbed his robes, storing them inside of his satchel, which she strapped around her leg. Her nanobots floated in there, and she felt several of his remnants. There wasn't much at all. Some vials of potions, a small journal, and the left over lizard meat.
She pulled the knife from the end of her staff, freeing it with her cybernetics. Emily's crimson eyes stared at the corpse of the Titanaboa before she started stabbing into its flesh. She stabbed it multiple times, even cutting into the creature's eyes. Only when she had her fill of vengeance on the corpse did she start using the knife for something far more reasonable.
The kitsune peeled away the hide of the monster, storing much of it inside of her new inventory space. She put away as much as the pouch would hold, which was still a lot more than her pendant. Only, she left a little bit of extra space.
After finishing up, she got down on her knees where the rat had vanquished. The only remnants of him left was his drying blood on the ground. She pressed her palms together in prayer. Please, let Ratagast have a peaceful passing.
She sighed and stood up, leaving the bog behind. At the very least, Ratagast had seen his own quest through. It didn't take her long to reach Ratagast's little hut, but when she pressed her hand against the door, she couldn't open it. Her heart didn't allow her inside.
It took all of her willpower to nudge the door open. She'd have expected to see the rat readying his pot, but that was not the case. Emily took the pot and scalpel for herself and placed them in her satchel. She remembered the rat's words to travel West if she needed anything.
The village was a bit further than what Emily had initially expected. It was more than a traipse. When she finally reached it, she was astounded at how small it was. The way that Ratagast had talked about it made it seem like it was something more special.
However, seeing the 30 or so rat people walking about with their children in the distance was enough for her to start wishing that Ratagast was among them. Alas, that wasn't the case.
The place was made up of small wooden huts that had the equally small doors as Ratagast's dwelling, but there was a remnant of the old rat at the village's edge. Wooden totems rose out of the swamp and surrounded the hamlet on all sides. Affixed to each of them were small dolls that hung down. Only, their hair was made of leaves, and the same was true of their fingertips.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Emily walked quietly up to one of the furthest posts, trying her damnedest to not disturb any of the rats' work. She once again separated her knife from the tip of her staff. The kitsune took his robes out of the satchel.
She gritted her teeth and swallowed again, choking down her tears. With one quick movement, she stabbed the robes against the totem, and left towards what she thought was the North.
I am sorry, Ratagast. This place isn't my home.
A cool breeze ruffled the fur in her tail, and she clutched her pendant. Ratagast's cloak fluttered in the wind.
///
Night time always aroused unwanted thoughts in the hearts of many. Emily could remember a time from her life in the military where when the night descended, she'd conjured up a slew of horrid thoughts. Ironically enough, the light had been even worse during her imprisonment in a futuristic world.
She'd always awoken to herself strapped into a hospital bed, and the light shone above her eyes and into her retinas. The voice of the doctor would follow soon after.
Emily's eyes flickered towards the stars, watching a shooting star pass overhead. Her fluffy ears twitched in conjunction. It was on this night that troubling thoughts prevailed. Even though I'd only known him for such a short while, I never wanted him to die.
To wish upon a star was the luxury of dreamers, but she dared to do it anyways. Please, deliver him to safety.
She pulled her shattered wooden arm from her inventory. Her nanobots floated over the form and started stitching it back together. It was once again connected with cybernetics, becoming as much cyber as wood by the time it was done.
Her hands moved onto the leather hide of the snake next, and she started forming the leggings by cutting into them with the scalpel. It proved a much more challenging case than she'd expected. She had to use her nanobots to create a sharper blade in order to pierce it.
It took her a while, but she eventually finished two pieces of legging and placed them on top of each other. Now, all I have to do is stitch them together after putting the silk on the interior. Will that work?
She looked up from her work and half expected to see the rat. Maybe Ratagast would have been the perfect person to give her pointers on how to fashion clothes? The kitsune shook her head rapidly and smacked her cheeks, returning to her duties.
Emily ignored the tears dripping down her cheeks and wiped away the fog in her eyes. Ratagast's death had triggered its own blighted bog that hung over her like a dark cloud.
Only her cutting the tip of her finger with the scalpel brought her back to reality. She took off her silk pants and lined the inside of the harsh snake leather. She stitched them all together, creating a seam on either side with her nanobots.
[Congratulations!]
[Tailoring skill has increased! You are now an [Apprentice Tailor]!]
She quickly dismissed the notification and moved onto the top of her outfit next. Emily worked to create a black croptop with a matching vest. It was by no means perfect, and it took her longer than she expected. However, working did help to alleviate some of the remorse. She'd completed the thing with a pair of black boots on her feet, and black leather gloves on her hands. Well, a hand and a prosthetic...
Emily sighed as she finished her outfit and put it on. Altogether, it was much more stylish than it had had any right to be, but the brown satchel fixed to her leg didn't match at all.
To solve this problem, she used strips of the snake leather to wrap the entire thing including the strap. The end of the process was far less taxing to her mana reserves than she expected.
Then again, I haven't checked my status in a while.
Emily looked down at her hands, and her right eye rotated, becoming a red target.
Name: Emily VanderRace: [Kitsune]
Age: 22
Sex: Female
Level: 16
Class: [Adept Cybermage]
Sub Classes: [Apprentice Tailor]
Devotion(s): Kurayami
Title(s): [Giant Slayer]
Health: 297
Stamina: 352
Mana: 550
Skills: [Telecommunications Specialist],[Kurayami's Voice],[Cybernetic Eye],[Adept Cybermagic],[Apprentice Hand to Hand]
Equipment: [Rare Pendant of Holding],[Epic Cybernetic Lantern Staff],[Epic Warden Leather Pants],[Epic Warden Leather Vest],[Epic Warden Leather Gloves],[Epic Warden Leather Top],[Epic Warden Leather Shoes],[Epic Warden Leather Satchel of Holding]
She stared at the new [Giant Slayer] title and was amazed that information popped up.
[Giant Slayer - Gain +10% bonus to stats and deal double damage to enemies who are at least 5 levels higher than you.]
She'd made huge strides in her ability to not die, and the Giant Slayer title was a blessing. Dealing double damage to high leveled creatures would hopefully allow her to take them by surprise, but she had no idea how damage was calculated in the first place. A severed head was still a severed head, and bugs died when you shot them.
Emily pressed her back against a tree. For you, Ratagast, I will live.
Living wasn't her only goal anymore. She also needed to find out what it meant to be a kitsune and why she was summoned here to begin with. For someone that proclaims themselves as a God, this Kurayami hasn't done anything to help me.
She wondered if she was some kind of forsaken specimen. Perhaps her time being experimented on made her too tainted for someone pure to want her. Even Ratagast was taken, so maybe she was her own little warden of blight.
Even with such thoughts, sleep eventually found her.
When she blinked open her eyes to filtering sunlight, the weight of her dead friend still pressed on her. She'd been riddled with a nightmare of watching Ratagast be experimented on by the evil doctor.
Even though the nightmare version of Ratagast was in pain, and even though he should have been blaming Emily for causing him to die, the rat only grinned at her. He'd given her a sense of comfort in the brown eyes behind his glasses. Perhaps that was what haunted Emily the most.