The Heart of a Fox

by T. Isilwath

  It was an ogre, not very big and not very smart. The problem was that one of the dark skinned humans was there too, and he could tell that the man had no idea what he was up against. The human was essentially cornered with nothing but his metal stick to defend himself. He was about to go charging to the rescue when the metal stick made a series of very fast, very loud noises. He dropped to the ground at the sound and covered his ears as the stench of burning ash filled his nose. Fire and smoke had come shooting out of the narrow end of the man’s metal stick, and something had hit the ogre because it was bleeding from wounds in its chest. Unfortunately, the ogre didn’t seem to be anywhere close to dying. In fact, all the man’s stick seemed to have done was make the demon angry.

  The man shouted something and raised his stick again, making it smoke and shoot fire. He cringed each time the loud noise sounded and kept his head down as he saw the trees around the ogre splintering and spraying bits of wood everywhere.

  ‘That stick shoots little darts,’ he realized, and he was suddenly glad that he’d been wary of the things from the beginning.

  The noise stopped suddenly even though the man hadn’t put the stick down, and Akihiro figured that the weapon was out of darts. The ogre was still standing, although bleeding from even more wounds now, but it still didn’t look like it was mortally injured. It roared and advanced on the human as the man pulled a smaller metal stick from a sheath at his hip. This stick made an even louder noise, but seemed to fire its darts only one at a time. He counted twelve deafening bangs before that, too, fell silent.

  Venturing a peek, he saw that the ogre was still standing, and still angry, and the human appeared to be all out of darts.

  ‘Idiot is going to get himself killed,’ he thought as the ogre charged.

  Not wanting one of these new humans to be killed by the demons of his time, he sprang to his feet and rushed to the man’s rescue. The first thing he did was grab the man and shove him out of the ogre’s striking range. The human yelled and rolled into the underbrush as he took on the demon. Behind him, he could hear the man cursing and moving about, but he had no time to spare as the ogre swung at him with a massive fist. He ducked, darting between the ogre’s legs and hamstringing it on both ankles with his claws. The blows weren’t fatal, but it brought the beast to its knees. He rounded and spun, slash-ing at the softer sides of the ogre’s throat where it was vulnerable, and it retaliated with a wild swing as it screamed in rage.

  It was obvious that loss of blood was slowing the ogre down, but he still had yet to deliver a killing blow. As the demon lurched and tried to hit him again, he leaped up and prepared to blast it in the head with his foxfire. Just at that moment, however, the dark skinned human came bursting out of the underbrush with his smaller metal stick drawn, and the thing began to make its loud noise again. He cut off his attack and dove for the ground, not wanting the darts to hit him by mistake.

  At the same time the dark skinned human leaped out of the brush, three more humans came running, all of them carrying the larger metal sticks. The newcomers began firing their darts at the ogre the moment they saw it, and he watched as the demon was struck repeatedly with more darts than he could count. The beast screamed as part of its skull exploded, and when the thing finally toppled over, there wasn’t much of a head left on its shoulders.

  Frightened by the power of the weapons the humans carried, he hunched down and eyed them warily. The men had crazed looks in their eyes, and he was worried that he would be the next target so he made himself small and stayed very still.

  Lowering his smaller stick, the dark skinned human he had saved went over to the ogre’s body and kicked it until it rolled over. He could see disgust and fear on the man’s face, and he didn’t like it. It was entirely possible that the humans would now consider all non-humans a threat and try to kill him no matter what he did. He thought it best to try to retreat, but they noticed when he moved.

  The men turned, bringing up their weapons and pointing them at him. He crouched and flattened his ears and tail, hoping he’d be fast enough to outrun the darts that the metal sticks fired. Upon seeing him, however, recognition entered the first man’s eyes, and he lowered his weapon, returning it to the sheath on his hip. His action caused the others to relax a little and lower their own sticks. He sat up as the men approached him, but did not make any sudden moves.

  “What the hell are you?” one of the men demanded.

  He didn’t answer, but rose to his feet and began licking the ogre blood off of his claws, grimacing because he hated the taste.

  “I dunno what that thing is but it saved my ass,” the human he had saved told his comrades. “It knocked me outta the way and took down that thing by itself. It probably would have killed it if we hadn’t blown its head to pieces.”

  “Thing still gives me the creeps. It doesn’t talk but it wears clothes,” one of the other men complained, giving Akihiro a suspicious look. “It looks like its got a man’s face, but its got those weird dog ears and a tail.”

  ‘Dog ears? Dog ears?’ he thought, offended, and forcibly kept himself from snorting. ‘Stupid human doesn’t know a fox when he sees one.’

  “Actually, it looks more like a fox than a dog,” another man commented.

  “The tail definitely looks like a fox.”

  “Fox, dog, doesn’t matter. It’s still a freak.”

  “A freak that understands what we’re saying,” a fourth man, another one with dark skin, said thoughtfully.

  He remained silent, even though his instincts told him to run, and met the man’s eyes with a steady gaze of his own.

  “What do you mean, Holmes?” the second man asked.

  “Look how it’s watching us. It might not understand everything we say, but it’s definitely able to understand some of it. And it understood Nurse Nancy when she told it to put the woman down,” the fourth man answered.

  “You think it can talk?” one with light colored skin asked.

  The dark skinned man shrugged. “Dunno. Why don’t you ask it?” The light skinned man stepped closer, a funny, almost cruel expression on his face. “Hey freak, can you talk?”

  He flattened his ears and didn’t answer, but a low growl rumbled in his throat as a warning. Oddly, the man didn’t seem deterred, but grinned instead.

  “Can you bark like a doggie?” he asked mockingly, moving forward.

  Now the human was coming dangerously close to his personal space, and his hackles were starting to rise. He didn’t want to hurt the man, but he also wasn’t comfortable with him getting so near. He growled louder and lifted his upper lip.

  “Ooooo! I think I’m pissing the freak off,” the man taunted, snickering.

  “You are. Why don’t you back off before he slits your throat with those claws of his,” the first dark skinned man warned.

  “What makes you think it’s a “he,” Graner?” the third man asked.

  “Easy. It doesn’t look like its got tits, does it?”

  “Awww, that don’t mean nothing. Why don’t we skin it and find out?” the man who had been taunting him suggested, leering at him.

  “Mitchell, back off,” the other dark skinned man said. The one that was called “Holmes.”

  ‘Mitchell,’ he thought, committing the man’s name and scent to memory.

  The name sounded too much like Michael, and he already hated that name; it was the name of the one man who could take his vixen away from him.

  “We should be heading back to camp,” the man named Graner said impatiently.

  The others agreed and he saw them turn towards the clearing where he knew his vixen was being treated. He wanted to follow and looked behind him to make sure there were no other threats nearby. His senses didn’t register any other demons within his range so he allowed himself to relax a little and think about Joanna.

  ‘Has her blood number come down? Is she awake? Will she talk to me?’

  “You coming?” Graner asked him, surprising him out of
his thoughts.

  He looked at the man, blinking and trying to figure out if he should dare to trust the stranger. Now that the area was secure and free of demons, he found himself desperately wanting to see his vixen and make sure she was all right. At the same time, he was still wary of the new humans, and he keenly remembered Joanna’s warnings. Lowering his ears, he gave the man a guarded look, and the man shrugged.

  “Suit yourself,” the man said and followed his comrades.

  Of course he had no intention of staying behind; he had just wanted to let them get ahead of him so he could track them undetected. He could hear them talking quite clearly as he followed on almost silent feet, and he learned that the four men were named Graner, Holmes, Lazarro (strange name), and the hated Mitchell. They were all very concerned about the place where they were and the things they had seen, and Mitchell complained loudly that he “didn’t sign up for this shit.” The others told him to shut up. He would have done the same but for different reasons. They were making enough noise that everything in the forest within 2 ri knew they were there, and that was sure to attract more unwanted attention.

  When they neared the clearing, he took to the trees and gained a vantage point so he could look down on the area while he remained unseen. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw that the clearing had been transformed into a tiny war camp, complete with a number of tents made of dark fabric. There was another tent that was larger and made of light colored fabric. It had a large red mark on it like the one on Joanna’s medicine kit, and he reasoned that the symbol must mean that it was a medicine tent. There were more of the bright lights and other large wooden boxes scattered around the small area, and the whole place buzzed with a strange hum.

  His ears came up when he saw the woman in white come out of the medicine tent, and he strained to hear if she said anything. The scent of his vixen clung to the woman’s clothing, and he knew that was where they had taken his beloved.

  ‘Joanna is in that tent!’

  He watched as the woman in white went into one of the dark colored tents, and he waited to see if she would come out again. When she did not, he climbed down from his perch and hid along the edge of the clearing, mulling over what he should do. He desperately needed to see his vixen, but the medicine tent was in the center of the camp. If he wanted to remain undetected, he would have to get to it without being seen. He knew he could move quickly, but he didn’t think he could move fast enough to get to the tent without someone noticing him.

  ‘I’ll have to use an illusion,’ he decided, checking his energy levels.

  He was tired, but the rush of excitement from Joanna’s people arriving (and his fights with the demons) had yet to wear off. He should have enough energy left to maintain an illusion long enough to safely make it into the light-colored tent. Skirting the clearing, he moved to the side of the camp where the woman in white had gone, then he cast his spell and assumed her likeness.

  With the illusion in place, he cautiously came out of the forest right behind the tent where the woman had entered and began to make his way across the clearing. He kept his step steady and his head high, despite his inner nervousness, as he walked through the camp, and prayed that no one would challenge him. Thankfully, no one seemed to give him a second glance as he passed by a number of humans, and he reached the tent without anyone trying to stop him.

  Joanna’s scent washed over him as he parted the flap and slipped inside, and he breathed a sigh of relief. His vixen was lying on a raised bed, draped in white cloth, and she appeared to be sleeping peacefully. There were all manner of strange thick strings attached to her arms, and he traced them to their source.

  One large, clear string went to a clear bag that had liquid in it. The liquid dripped down into the string and was shunted into something that was stuck into her arm. Another set of strings were black, and they attached to a strange box that had lines and numbers moving across a lighted “screen.” It took him a moment, but he soon realized that the moving lines coincided with his vixen’s heartbeat and breathing. The line vibrated with each beat, and he watched the display in fascinated wonder, as if he were looking at her heart itself and seeing it pulse before his very eyes.

  He dropped his illusion and stood next to the bed, his hands gripped tightly around a metal rail along the side, and looked down at his vixen.

  “I’m here, Joanna-sama. I didn’t leave you,” he whispered.

  She didn’t answer and he knew she was deeply asleep. Her scent, however, was much closer to normal, and her heartbeat was strong and steady. He leaned over to kiss her cheek and lick her temple, happy that her skin tasted normal.

  ‘She’s going to live. My vixen is going to live.’

  Yes, she would live, but what would happen now and where did he fit in?

  It was too much for him to handle. Too much had happened, and he was beginning to come down from the rush. The exhaustion he felt nearly made him sag, and he leaned heavily on the metal rail. His vixen was safe and out of danger. It was all right for him to rest now.

  “I’ll be right here beside you, Joanna-sama,” he promised, his limbs growing heavy and his eyes drooping.

  Looking around the tent, he moved to curl up underneath the head of the bed, tucked out of the way and almost completely out of sight. Dawn was not too far off, but he was asleep within moments.

  He didn’t know how long he had slept, but the scent of strangers coming too close brought him to full attention. The fox was near to the surface so it woke first and went into full defensive mode at the perceived threat. In an instant, he determined that the strangers were inside the tent with him and his vixen, and he leaped into action. With a snarl he landed on the bed, his body straddling Joanna and shielding her as he growled warnings low in his throat.

  The strangers were both humans in white coats, and they jumped as he came bursting out from underneath the bed. The woman screamed, and the man stepped back a pace or two in fear. A small part of his functioning brain registered that he had seen both of the humans before, that the woman was even the one who had spoken to him and whose guise he had taken in order to get into the tent, but the fox was in full control of his body, and it was having none of two strange humans so close to his mate.

  To make matters worse, the woman’s scream brought others, and they were carrying the dart-shooting, metal sticks. Knowing what he knew of the weapons, his protective instincts flared even more, and he hunkered down over his vixen, his ears flat against his skull and his lips curled back to reveal his fangs. The men with the weapons pointed the deadly ends towards him, and he growled even louder.

  He was waiting, every muscle in his body ready to spring, then his vixen moved beneath him and he heard her frightened voice cry out.

  “Stop! Don’t shoot! Don’t hurt him, please!”

  The sound of his vixen’s voice stopped his growling and made him whirl around to look her in the face. She was staring wide-eyed at him just as he was staring at her in open-mouthed shock. Then he saw her cast a glance at the men with the weapons, and her eyes filled with fear as she struggled to sit up. He scrambled backwards to give her room to rise, pressing himself to one corner of the bed.

  “Joanna-sama…” he whispered to the gasps of the onlookers.

  She looked at him and her eyes filled with tears.

  “Akihiro…” she replied, reaching out one hand.

  He couldn’t stop himself as he grabbed her and pulled her to him, his face buried in her hair.

  “Akihiro. It’s all right, Aki. It’s all right now,” she told him as her arms came around him, and she held him close.

  ********

  Somewhere above her Akihiro was growling. She could hear the deep rumbles and feel the vibrations shaking the ground she lay on. There had to be danger: a predator or some other threat; maybe even another demon had come close to their camp. Whatever it was, her fox was letting the intruder know that it was not welcome.

  ‘I should get up and help him
…’ she thought.

  She tried to move, but her body was lead and her mind sluggish.

  ‘What? What is wrong? Was I hurt?’

  She tried to remember what had happened, but her memory was not cooperating.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  Slowly, she concentrated on opening her eyes, on forcing the lids to rise so she could see. They finally obeyed her, and she looked out upon a hazy, blurry world. It took a few moments for her eyes to focus, but when they did, she realized that the nondescript tan shape she had been looking at was Akihiro’s groin.

  ‘Why do I have my face in Akihiro’s crotch?’

  She blinked rapidly, sweeping away the last of the blurriness as she tried to figure out what was happening. Judging by his position, she determined that her fox was crouched directly above her with his body very close to her own.

  ‘He’s shielding me, but from what?’

  She stretched her awareness to try to gather more information on where they were and what they were doing there. Her fingers clenched when she asked them to, and she felt soft cloth beneath them and a giving, spongy material that felt nothing at all like the firmness of a futon. Smells then began to reach her, and she caught a tangy scent, like something acrid or antiseptic.

  ‘Like a hospital…’

  She tried to move her arms and the pain hit like a sharp blow. Suddenly everything hurt, and the pain radiated throughout her entire body, making tears

  well up in her eyes. Above her Akihiro started growling even more loudly, and she heard human voices shouting in answer. She managed to turn her head enough to look to the side and saw men in camouflage uniforms.

  ‘Soldiers?’

  Then she saw the automatic rifles.

  ‘Rifles? Guns? Here in Japan? Oh my god! Guns! They’re going to shoot Akihiro!’

  She panicked and the fear gave her the strength to yell.

  “Stop! Don’t shoot! Don’t hurt him, please!”

  The tan blur above her vanished as she struggled to sit up, and she found herself staring into Akihiro’s wide, disbelieving eyes. He had spun his body around and was now facing her, his body crouched near the end of the bed. He watched her rise with an expression of amazement and breathed her name like a prayer.