Emily hid in the bushes and observed the humans. At the very least, they didn't seem overly concerned that they couldn't find her. She imagined that if they were a risk to her safety, they would be more gungho about searching for her. Were the cat people not scary? Or is it confidence?
The kitsune had the urge to scan them with her eye, but she also feared doing so. There was always a chance that someone had a skill that would counter her own skill. She still had so much to learn about the world.
Though, what she didn't want to learn about was their privates, and seeing how the two were getting ready to bathe during their time off, she decided to sneak away. So the two guards were more curious and less about trying to kill me? Maybe it is a friendly tribe of humans?
The idea that they would tell their senior officers and then there'd be a hunt for her was a small weight in her chest. With a deep breath, she decided to continue her journey North instead, leaving the town and guards behind her.
It didn't take too long for her to get away from the sounds of the city. Even her sensitive, fluffy ears stopped picking up on the distant noises. They twitched to a new sound. It was the eerie silence surrounding the world around her. This whole time she'd heard the sounds of chirping birds or perhaps some scurrying animal.
Yet, the quiet descended around her. Her heart throbbed in her chest, attuned to this deficiency in noise. Each time she'd experienced this prior, what followed was something horrible. Her crimson eyes flickered towards the distance and all around her in the undergrowth. Her fox tail twitched to the noiseless world.
She'd expected something to leap from the undergrowth. Maybe a new abomination would reclaim her arm again, but no such thing happened. Instead, an acrid smell seeped into her nostrils.
The kitsune wrinkled her nose, and her ears waved. She tuned her senses in the direction of the scent and started making her way over to it.
A brief memory flashed into her mind. Before Emily was ever in the military, she'd taken a small break after high school. There was this girl that she lived with in an affluent neighborhood.
All of the houses in those blocks were made of bricks and stood as a testament of American wealth. Emily still recalled the rich girl's house. Savannah had a particularly large house even for these gated communities.
There were amenities inside that Emily thought would only ever go to famous actors. One of them was a relatively small theater room on the second floor, and right outside of that room, there was a small bar. A mini fridge sat beneath it, and the family constantly stored alcoholic beverages there.
Savannah sat behind the bar as if she was a practiced bartender. The ditsy blonde-haired girl reached down and pulled out some ginger ale and typical clear sweet syrup.
"Today, I am going to try a new mixture," the girl said.
Emily rolled her eyes. "You're not gonna have me drink it, are you?"
The girl reached down beneath the table and grabbed a bag of fruits they'd gotten at the store, but the moment she pulled back the packaging, her face wrinkled. "Ew, this is rotten." Savannah pushed the back towards Emily, holding it open. "Smell it."
At the time, Emily was astounded and refused. She had no idea why anyone would want others to sniff out the same rancid things they smelled. It also showed her that no matter how much money people spend or how nice the neighborhood, even the rich could be prone to nature.
Maybe that's why when Emily found a girl leaning against a tree, she wasn't as surprised as she should have been. The acrid smell was coming from a girl that couldn't have been older than 10 years of age.
The kitsune traipsed towards the lying girl as her eyes flickered around her body. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the rising and falling of her chest. A yellow sun dress was draped over her unconscious form, but Emily saw small cuts and bruises covering the girl's arms and legs.
Emily acted fast and dug into the contents of the storage device wrapped around her leg, searching for a tincture with red liquid. It didn't take her long to find it. She bent down next to the girl and opened her mouth. With one hand, she held down the girl's tongue, and with the other, she dripped the liquid down her throat and forced her to swallow.
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The effects were fast. The magic of the potion worked over the bruises and cuts on her arms and legs and even healed a gash in the back of her neck Emily hadn't noticed.
What could have done this? It doesn't seem like the work of people...or if it was, it had to be barbarians.
Her right eye narrowed into a target and scanned the girl.
Name: Daisy
Race: [Human]
Age: 8
Sex: Female
Level: 2
Class:
Sub Classes:
Devotion(s): Yahwey
Title(s):
Health: 7/40
Stamina: 1/40
Mana: 20
Skills:
Equipment: [Uncommon Yellow Sundress],[Uncommon Ramshackle Buckle Shoes]
At least her health is showing signs of improving. Did she come from that human village?
For a moment, Emily wished her skill would show more. It didn't have the detective capabilities she wished it did, yet it had been so helpful to her thus far that she couldn't degrade the skill. Besides, doing so feels like a slight to whoever this Kurayami person is.
Emily breathed another deep breath and reached down, placing her arm and prosthetic beneath the little girl, and scooping her up like a princess. A fabric of the kitsune's being told her she'd done enough. That she should just leave the girl here, and those men would figure it out. However, she declined that notion.
Her ears twitched to the world around her, looking for signs of whoever did this, but they didn't come. The only thing she could see were footprints on the ground, but they weren't human footprints. They seemed to come from large birds. Did some kind of ostrich do this?
The scent clinging to the small human was still poignant. It had a sour texture to it, much like the smell that Savannah tried to force on Emily so long ago. Did she do this to herself?
There was a faint liquid coating her dress and a few shards of shattered glass that made the whole thing more confusing.
After a few steps, the girl started blinking her eyes open, and her eyes flickered across Emily's face. Daisy's chest started rising and falling faster, and her breaths came out more labored.
"It's okay," Emily said, "I won't hurt you."
Daisy blinked a few times and took several deep breaths. She swallowed before tears started filling her eyes. "I am so sorry..."
"Don't worry. There is nothing you have to be sorry about. I am here."
"No..." Tears ran down her cheeks.
Emily sat Daisy down again, letting the little girl catch her breath. The kitsune had no idea how to comfort children, so she knelt beside the girl and reached her hand out to hold Daisy's shoulder. "You're not in danger anymore."
It took a while for Daisy to respond. She stared at Emily uncertainly for a while, her eyes roaming towards her tail, and eventually settling on the fluffy ears. It seemed that their twitching had provided a calming balm to the little girl's heart. For a moment, the little girl's eyes settled on Emily's prosthetic. They carried a hint of confusion and awe at the sight before she came back to reality.
Daisy nodded after her array of emotions. "Did you save me?"
"I gave you some medicine. I was going to carry you back towards the town near those hot springs."
Daisy's face paled for a second. "The hot springs...Yes, I live in that town. Can you take me back?"
"I can," Emily said as she pulled her hand away.
Yet, before it could get too far, the little girl grabbed it. Daisy's lip quivered, and her grip tightened on the edge of Emily's hand. "Please!"
Emily took a deep breath and nodded, allowing the little girl to hold her hand. Internally, she wanted to curse her luck. Fate had decided that she must pay the human town a visit either way. Taking her back to those men is not an option. I guess the only thing I can do is stroll directly to the gates and hope the archers don't unleash a volley of arrows at me.
"Can you walk on your own?" Emily asked.
Daisy tested it by standing on her feet, but she winced in pain. "It hurts..."
Emily scooped her up in a princess carry again and received no complaints from the girl in the dirty yellow dress. Two small arms wrapped around her neck and held on as if she was a family member. I guess when survival instincts kick in, you would choose to trust the first person you meet.
The kitsune looked down with a reassuring grin, helping to maintain her image as a savior. Even if I didn't do anything, she should feel protected.
"Thank you," Daisy said after they resumed walking, "for saving me. I am Daisy."
"It's nice to meet you, Daisy. I am Emily."
The little girl's eyes widened. "That's a more human name than I expected."
Yeah, well, I used to be human.
Daisy allowed herself to be carried all the way back to the fort. The little girl looked so relieved to see all of the barricades and houses beyond them. The arrival of the tall walls stirred inside of her a feeling of refuge. Asylum was beyond towering stone blocks just for her.
However, for Emily, the feeling couldn't be more opposite. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. She could see archers above the wall poised to strike at any moment with their bows. Two men at the gate readied their spears and walked forwards defensively.
They'd reached a stand still at some point, but when the two guards saw the little girl more clearly, their expressions showed their surprise.
"Young Lady!" One of the men yelled as he rushed forwards, gripping his spear harder.
Emily's eyes flicked to one of the men above with his crossbow, and his finger settled on his trigger. Mana traveled down Emily's body. As much as she wanted to protect the little girl, she wouldn't die for it. Her nano bots started to come forwards, sliding beneath her prosthetic arm. Though she was spending plenty of magic on maneuvering it, she still had more in reserv to spare for some humans if they tested her.
"Wait!" Daisy yelped, twitching in Emily's grip. The kitsune placed her down, and the little girl waved her hands to everyone. "She saved me!"