{"sf1_id":608177,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Skyfall Chapter 26","author":"Abyssa","words":4240,"posted_at":"2013-10-30T02:52:00.000Z","tags":["Anthro","SkyFall","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/608177-skyfall-chapter-26","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/608177","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=608177\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"26\n\n\"Tomorrow night.\" Kato sighed, staring up at the ceiling.\nI leaned back in the chair\nbeside his bed.  It\nwas late afternoon, and Kato seemed to be well rested. The nurse ordered him to\nstay until dinner time so that they could monitor him, and I decided to stay\nwith him. We had been casually chatting for a while, until the subject of the\neclipse came up. Now, we both sat in nervous silence, wondering if our fate had\nalready been sealed by the events that had passed today. \n\"Do you think Misha could\nactually be feeling bad for what he's done?\" I finally asked.\nKato's eyes glanced over to\nmine, but his face remained pointed towards the ceiling. \"I don't know.\" He\nsighed, looking back up at the ceiling. \"He wasn't always like this. I've since\nforced myself to forget about who he once was, or who I thought he was.\"\n\"Who did you think he was?\" I\nwhispered, leaning closer.\nKato squeezed his eyes shut and\npressed his head back into his pillow, sinking down in the bed a bit. \n\"I'm sorry.\" I mumbled, feeling\nguilty. \"You don't have to talk about it.\"\n\"I should talk about it.\" Kato\nreplied, adjusting in the bed and sitting up slightly. \"I never have before.\"\nHe let out a heavy sigh before continuing. \"But I think it's time to revisit\nthose thoughts.\"\n\"When I was in the basement, I was tormented\nby Reck and another scientist, whose name I can't recall anymore. I was a\npowerful, young phoenix, and they needed Reck to control my telepathic powers.\nI killed a few scientists within the first week I was there, but soon they had\nsubdued me enough, and I no longer posed a threat.\" \nI listened to Kato's story,\ntrying to not become angry or emotional. \n\"They forced me to take a human\nform.\" He sighed, staring at his hands. \"Misha was actually the one who taught\nme to communicate. He taught me to speak, and he would also let me back into my\nphoenix form sometimes. He was the only one who showed me any sort of\ncompassion.\n\"After a while, I was moved to a\ncage that was too small for me to transform in. Misha would still cut back on\nthe dose of toxin that kept me from transforming, which allowed me to keep a\npretty high level of magic energy within me. After a while, I guess I sort of\nfell for him. He defended me many times, and if it weren't for him, I would\nhave probably stayed in the basement.\" Kato let out a heavy sigh as he tried to\nremain calm. \"I made the first move. Sometimes I wonder if I started all of this...it\nwasn't long after me that he went insane.\"\nI opened my mouth to try and\nassure Kato that it wasn't his fault, but he continued speaking. \n\"I ended up killing the head\nscientist in charge of me. I used fire magic, and burned him from the inside\nout. Misha tried to take the blame for what had happened, but Hale didn't\nlisten. I was punished, and I would have allowed myself to die...\" Kato paused,\nhis voice strained. \"But then Misha convinced Hale to let me out. And not only\nthat, but Misha convinced Hale to let me keep my ability to use magic. I don't\nknow how he did it, but he did.\"\nI stared at Kato in disbelief.\nIt actually seemed like Misha fought for Kato's life...Misha really had cared.\n\"Of course, you know the rest of\nthe story.\" Kato said. \"We were together for a while, until I was drugged to\nthe point that I was completely human.\" He paused and stared at me with dull\neyes. \"I guess it makes sense now...why I was never enough for him once I was\nhuman. Who knows, maybe he really did care about me.\" \nMy ears fell as I watched Kato\nrealize exactly what happened. \n\"I guess I should have known.\"\nHe said with a humorless laugh. \"It's amazing how someone can remain in denial\nfor so long.\" \n\"It wasn't your fault.\" I said.\n\"I don't even think Misha knew why you weren't enough for him.\" \n\"Being in denial doesn't justify\nanything.\" Kato said apathetically. \"I'm kidding myself. Misha didn't care\nabout me. All he wanted was to get high from my potent, phoenix energy.\" He\ncontinued. \"Besides that, Misha could have resisted his urges. If he cared he\nwouldn't have done what he did.\" Kato snapped, his eyes burning with rage. \"He\ndidn't need to rape his experiments to survive.\"\n\"He became addicted to the power\nhe gained from it, and I watched him become worse and worse. I watched him turn\ninto what he is now, and yet I find myself wondering if the Misha I fell for\nwas just a lie.\"\nI shivered and swallowed hard, nodding\nslowly. \n\"I'm sorry.\" Kato said, sending\nme a sad look.\n\"It's fine. I find myself\nthinking the same thing quite often.\" I paused to take a shaky breath. \"I think\nHale has something to do with him acting so kindly to us. I don't believe Misha\ncould suddenly change this drastically.\"\nWith a nod, Kato sat up a bit\nmore. \"Yeah.\" He said, glancing at the clock on the wall. \"Well, it's about\ndinner time. Let's get out of here.\"\n\"What about tomorrow?\" I\npressed. \n\"The plan is get to Skyfall. We\ncan talk telepathically as things happen.\" Kato said. \"I don't know how to plan\nthings until we know what's going to happen. I haven't even seen Caliber around\nto ask him, and honestly I don't know much about the details.\"\nKato stood up and looked around for his clothes. He was naked except for\na pair of boxers. I let my eyes wander across his muscled body for just a\nmoment before I became anxious again. \n\"The slithurm you killed.\" I\nsaid, my ears pricking forward. \"Do you think it was sent by someone? Someone\nwho's after Hale? Vladimir made it sound like something might be coming for\nHale on the night of the eclipse.\"\n\"It's possible. Slithurms are\noften allied with Vladimir's brother...I don't know much about the politics\nbetween the two, but I know that Vladimir's brother is the jealous type. I\nthink their relationship is quite strained. Perhaps he hates Hale.\"\n\"Hale mentioned something about\na war...Something about Vladimir's brother having a war coming that was\ndistracting the Goddesses, and that's why...\" I stopped there, realizing Hale\ndidn't think the Goddess would be here to help me. Maybe he was right.\n\"Why what?\" Kato asked, slipping\nhis pants back on. \n\"Why Hale felt confident that\nthe Dark Goddess didn't care about me enough to save me. He thinks she'll be\ndistracted with the war.\"\n\"Don't worry about it.\" Kato\nsighed. \"It doesn't concern us. If something's coming for Hale, that'll just\nhelp us. And you don't need the Goddess.\"\n\"Unless the slithurms attack\nyou, as well.\" I mumbled. \"And I guess It'd just be nice to feel like the\nGoddess was there for me.\"\n\"If you're so worried, why don't\nyou ask Misha for some extra antidote while he's pretending to be your buddy?\"\nKato asked as he finished buttoning up his shirt. \"I can't relate to ever having\nthe Goddess there for me, but if she has faith in you, clearly you can do it on\nyour own.\" He glanced up at me and winked. \"But you won't even be alone, you've\ngot me.\"\nI smiled at Kato, who was\nsmirking at me. \n\"We'll be fine. At least, that's\nwhat we have to tell ourselves.\" He sighed. \"Now come on, I'm starving.\"\nHe slipped on his coat and shook\nit into place with his hands. He seemed energized, ready to take on the world.\nI followed him out of the room\nsomewhat hesitantly. The phoenix had a bounce to his step as he walked out of\nthe medical wing. I was surprised to see his mood brighten so quickly. My eyes\nshifted to his wrist, and I caught a glimpse of the glowing marking that burned\ninto his flesh.I know you're excited... I mentally whispered to him. But you should act more subdued, or else\nMisha might change his mind and drug you again.\nKato turned to me with a smile.\n\"I'm sorry.\" He laughed as he pulled his coat sleeve down his wrist. \"It just\nfeels so great, being this alive.\"\nMy heart stung at the joy in his\nvoice. I couldn't ask him to be upset; he deserved to feel happy. But it\nwouldn't be long until he could feel this way all the time. I sighed and\nfollowed him into the dining hall. \nI looked around the large room,\nfeeling like I'd spent most of my conscious time here lately. \n\"Would you like to go outside?\"\nI asked. \"We can take food.\"\nKato glanced out towards the main entrance\nand through the glass doors. The sun hadn't begun to fall yet, meaning we could\nsit out on the lookout point and watch the sunset.\n\"I don't know...\" Kato said slowly\nas he thought. \"It's pretty cold out.\"\nI nodded. \"Oh. Right...We better\nkeep you well rested.\"\nKato burst into a smile again.\n\"No way. Let's go outside.\" He said, dashing towards the food.\nThe life in Kato startled me. I\nhadn't seen him act this way in so long...maybe even since Eldon, when he'd last become\nthe flaming bird. I stared at him as I realized the Kato I'd known was just a\nrestrained fragment of the phoenix. Any other happiness I saw in Kato seemed so\nshallow compared to this genuine bliss.\nKato glanced back at me with a\nquestioning look, and when he realized I hadn't followed him, he grabbed a few\nmore pieces of food and shoved them onto an empty tray. He then ran back over\nto me and handed it to me.\n\"Well, come on.\" He said, waving\nhis tray of food towards the exit.\nI followed him out and carefully\nlooked around. \"Are you sure it's a good idea?\" I asked. \"I mean, I'm happy to\ngo outside, but what about the slithurm problem?\"\n\"The lookout point is TRIL's.\"\nKato assured me. \"No slithurm would dare come so close. The boarder where I was\nattacked is several miles away.\"\nWe stepped through the glass\ndoors, the icy air sending chills through my fur. I shivered as my paws touched\nthe sharp snow. After a few minutes, my body adjusted to the cold, and I\nstopped shivering. I nervously watched Kato, who seemed to be keeping warm in\nhis jacket.\nWe walked up the familiar trail\nto the lookout point. The only flowers that remained against the stark white\nwere deep, blue-violet. Of course. I\nthought to myself. Of course the dark and\nwinter go hand in hand.\nIt was nice to be walking up\nthis trail with Kato again. The last time I trekked through snow, I had\ndiscovered Misha at the plateau. This time, I was stomping through the thick\nsnow with Kato following eagerly in my footsteps. The experience was very\ndifferent and strangely exciting this time. Even the silence of the winter air\nseemed better when I was in Kato's company. \nBy the time we reached the\nplateau, our food was ice cold. Kato used a blast of flames and wind to clear\nthe ice from the tree that snaked over the edge, and he gestured me to follow\nhim up. He jumped up with ease, balancing his food on his tray as he trot over\nto the edge of the tree. I carefully clawed my way up the slick bark and met\nhim as he gazed down into the valley. \nHe set his tray down and rubbed\nhis hands together for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. I sat down across\nfrom him as he crouched down on the branch and began to warm his food with some\nheat between his hands. Curious, I stared at him. He looked up at me after a\nfew moments and grinned. \n\"What?\" He asked. \"Forget how to\nuse fire?\"\n\"It's just cold out.\" I said,\nrubbing my own hands together. \"I haven't had as much practice as you.\"\nI focused on the energy between\nmy palms and attempted to produce heat without igniting a flame, but failed.\nThe energy kept sparking, and the dissipating into steam in the frigid air. I\nsighed as Kato laughed at me. \n\"I'm tired.\" I said with a\nsmirk. \n\"Aw come on. That's not the\nDecipher I know.\"\nI exhaled deeply and watched my\nbreath mist out in front of my face. I let the silence of the air calm my mind,\nand then tried again. This time, there were barely any sparks, but I was only\nable to barely send a wave of heat to my food before the energy ignited and\nsent a wave of fire over it. \n\"Forget it!\" I laughed, picking\nup the lukewarm meat. \"Close enough.\"\n\"See?\" Kato asked, picking at his own\nfood. \"We can still have good times.\"\n\"I never said we couldn't.\" I\nsaid, gnawing at the meat. \n\"I know.\" He sighed. \"But we\nboth need a reminder sometimes.\" His voice became a bit more serious as he\nlooked down at his food. \"Just make sure you remember the good, no matter what\nhappens.\"\n\"Hey.\" I said. \"Don't turn this\ninto one of those moments. We're going to make it.\nKato's eyes remained on his\nfood, and his face held a sad smile. \"I know.\" He said softly, but his tone\nworried me. I don't think he believed me. The moment felt all too familiar as I\nremembered my few friends back home...who hadn't made it. \nI glanced down towards the white\nvalley, which was full of snow. The valley seemed to be shallow now in\ncomparison to the summer months, and I wondered just how deep the snow went. I\nsmiled at the thought of watching Kato fly into it, melting it away as he sank\nto the bottom of the fluffy layers of white. I looked back up to Kato, who had\nbecome quiet as he ate.\n\"Are you warm enough?\" I asked.\n\"Yeah. It's much easier to stay\nwarm when I have my energy to help me.\" He said. \"But I shouldn't exhaust\nmyself, you're right.\"\nI looked at the sky. \"We don't\nhave much longer until the sun sets behind Skyfall.\"\n\"Yeah. I want to see that.\" He\nsaid, following my gaze. \"I haven't been able to see a winter sunset yet this\nseason.\"\n\"Hey, Kato,\" I asked, keeping my eyes fixated\non the mountains, \"why are the mountains called Skyfall?\"\nKato leaned back against the\ntree and put his hands into his pockets. \"Only those who have seen the top of\nthe mountains truly understand why.\" He said, letting his eyes wander across\nthe edges of Skyfall. \"The grave of the original spirits of the sky sit atop\nthe mountains. They say their spirits still roam there. The western peak is\nhome to the female spirit, and her mate rests atop the eastern peak. Many\npeople have travelled there for knowledge, to ask the great spirits for\nguidance.\"\nI remembered what Asodar had told me. Skyfall holds every answer you have ever\nsought. I watched as the sun began to fall behind the peaks. After a few\nmoments, I turned to Kato. Maybe he and I would seek the answers of Skyfall\ntogether.\nThe pure world around us was set\nablaze by the setting sun. The white snow trapped the colors of the light and\nreflected them in ways that my eyes could hardly comprehend. I watched the warm\nhues slowly turn to cold indigo as the sun vanished.\nI looked back at Kato and\nnoticed he had moved closer to me. For a moment, I could see the silhouette of\nthe flaming bird dancing around him as he closed his eyes and took a deep\nbreath of the fresh air. He was sitting right next to me, eyes fixated on the\nlast of the light as he slowly opened them. For a moment, his eyes wandered to\nmine, but he swiftly looked away. He was starting to shiver.\nI carefully stood on the branch,\npicking up my food tray as I gazed into the dark valley. It was so tempting to\njust run now...to forget about Reck finding out...to just hope we could outrun\nthem...\n\"Come on.\" I sighed, gazing into\nthe now-black pit. \"We should go inside before it gets too cold.\"\nKato shook in a rough shiver and\nnodded. \"Yeah. I'm already pretty cold.\" He said, shakily standing up. I\nreached a hand out to help steady him.\nHe gripped my hand tightly, and\nI carefully led him off the tree. He seemed hesitant to let go, I cringed and\nhad to pull away. We stepped into my earlier footprints and began our descent\nback to the lab.\n We\nstepped back into the warmth of the lab, and Kato was greeted by a guard. \n\"Kato.\" He began, glancing at a\nsheet of paper. \"Come with me. The medical facility would like to do a physical\nto ensure you are healing correctly.\"\nKato nodded and glanced at me.\n\"Well, I'll see you later then, Decipher.\" He said, handing me his tray. \"Would\nyou mind putting this back in the dining hall for me?\"\nI took his tray and stared at\nhim helplessly. I had a bad feeling about this, but I didn't argue. I watched\nhim walk away with the guard before heading into the dining hall.\nWhen I entered the dining hall,\nI caught site of Caliber as he put his dishes away. I ran over to meet him.\n\"Caliber!\" I shouted as I put my\ntrays down. \"How have you been?\"\nHe looked up at me with a\nsomewhat stunned expression. \"I've been fine.\" He said.\n\"Can we talk?\"\nCaliber glanced around\nnervously. \"Sure.\" He sighed. \"But not here. Your room?\"\nI nodded as we began to walk\ntowards my room. It felt like it'd been so long since I'd spent an entire night\nthere.\n\"How have you been?\" Caliber\nasked me, staring into me with his golden brown eyes.\n\"Fine.\" I lied out of habit, but\nthen noticed Caliber's skeptical expression. \"Okay, not so fine.\" I admitted.\n\"But today has been better. Kato's been pretty happy, too.\"\n\"Kato?\" Caliber asked as we\nbegan to climb the stairs towards my room. \"Decipher...you can't let your\nhappiness depend on others.\"\nWe passed the information desk,\nand I thought about Caliber's words for a few moments. My ears fell.\n\"Oh.\" I shrugged. \"I'm not\nreally...It's just nice that Kato's also happy.\"\n\"What do you want out of this\nlife, Decipher?\" \nI opened my mouth, but stopped\nmyself from saying what I was thinking. I\njust want Kato to be happy. I sighed. What was wrong with that?\n\"Do you want to leave this\nplace?\" He asked as we walked down the hallway to my room.\nI nodded. \"Of course I do! It\njust happened that Kato made me brave enough to try and escape.\" I whispered.\nWe stopped at my door, and Caliber stared at me with a probing look as I\nunlocked it.\n\"Is it wrong that I just want Kato to be\nhappy?\" I exclaimed. \"I just care about him!\"\n\"Not at all, Decipher.\" Caliber\nsaid, keeping his eyes on mine. \"But you can't let Kato be your only source of\nhappiness. That's a dangerous road.\"\nI sighed as I opened the door\nand walked inside my room, trying to ignore his statement. I was too exhausted\nto think about it too hard. I flipped on the light switch for the first time in\nages and sat down on the couch. The dim lamps flickered on after a few moments\nand illuminated the room just enough.\n\"What's going to happen\ntomorrow?\" I asked Caliber, who was standing by the window, gazing out into the\ndark sky.\nAfter a few moments, he turned\nto me with a sad expression. \"Hale has big plans for you, unfortunately. It's\ngoing to be tricky getting out.\" \n\"Kato was attacked by a sliturm.\nDo you think something will come for Hale?\"\n\"Probably.\" Caliber sighed. \"But\nthat's not the best news for you two. Kato is especially vulnerable.\"\n\"I know.\" I cringed, rubbing my head in frustration. \"I'm hoping Misha\nwill make me some extra antidote while he's pretending to love me.\"\n\"You think he's pretending?\"\nThe question took me off guard.\nI stared at Caliber for a few moments as he turned back towards the sky. \"I\ndon't trust him, if that's what you mean.\"\n\"You shouldn't trust him.\"\nCaliber said, watching the stars. \"But believe me, Decipher, he does love you.\nHe's never tried so hard before.\"\n\"Don't tell me that.\" I groaned. \"It's\nhard enough convincing myself I'm going to kill him.\"\nCaliber turned around completely\nto face me, and sat down beside me on the couch. \"Kill him?\" He asked, shocked.\n\"That's a pretty serious decision, Decipher.\"\n\"Doesn't he deserve to die?\" I\nasked, somewhat irritated. \"The Goddess herself told me not to pity him!\"\n\"It's not my place to say\nwhether or not he deserves to die.\" Caliber let out a slow breath. \"But it\ndoesn't matter what I think. I've killed people who were far more innocent,\njust for TRIL's benefit. Just make sure that's what you really want to do. You\nhave to live with your decision for the rest of your life.\" \nConfused, I sighed and stared\nout the windows. I had no idea what the Goddess expected of me, but I was\ngrowing tired of jumping through hoops for her. I needed to stick with my\ndecision. \n\"Is there any helpful advice you\ncan give me for tomorrow?\" I asked after a few moments, still staring at the starry\nskies.\n\"Yes, actually.\" He sighed\nagain. \"There are a few windows of opportunity. The eclipse should happen a few\nhours after dinner. Hale will probably bring you to an alter that will be set\nup in the courtyard if he intends to sacrifice you,\" he sighed, \"which is the\nrumor going around.\"\n\"Do you know anything about that\nsacrifice?\" I asked hopefully.\n\"Not really.\" Caliber let out a\nheavy sigh. \"But I do know that Hale will be weak, and vulnerable. It's Reck\nyou want to watch out for. He's the one in charge of keeping us employees in\ncheck.\" \n\"How can I fight him?\"\nCaliber's eyes shot towards me,\nas if he was surprised by the question. \"That's not a wise thing to do,\nDecipher. Avoiding him is your best strategy.\" He said, keeping his wide eyes\non me. \"Unless you want to go insane.\"\nI leaned back on the couch and\nstared hopelessly towards the stars. \"Well, what can I do?\" I sighed. \"What are\nthose windows of opportunity you spoke of?\"\nCaliber leaned forward and\nfollowed my gaze towards the stars. \"Before Hale drags you out into the\ncourtyard, he will probably try and drug you. I'm assuming he'll have Misha\nadminister the drugs...if this is the case, you have the chance of convincing\nMisha to help you escape.\" He said, looking back at me. \"And if you can't\nconvince Misha, your other option is to fight the drug. I know you have the\ncapability to do so...it just might be difficult.\" \n\"Wait.\" I said, furrowing my\nbrows. \"Hale said something about me fighting him during the eclipse...or\nfighting back, at least. What do you think he meant by that?\"\n\"I couldn't say.\" Caliber\nshrugged. \"But he might just be trying to fuck with your head. Be smart about\nthis, and you'll be able to get out. Hale will only try so hard to keep you\nhere. As long as you can run far enough, he won't bother looking for you.\" \n\"Why not?\" I asked, somewhat\nsurprised. \n\"Hale seems to have gotten what\nhe wants from you, especially since he's planning on sacrificing you. If he\nmisses the eclipse, you are no longer useful to him.\" Caliber shrugged. \"From what\nI've seen, he's not really one to seek revenge. It's just not worth it for him.\nThe worst he'll do is probably issue a bounty on you, but that should be easy\nenough to take care of once you're out. Honestly, I think Hale has a lot of\nrespect for those that can escape him. I don't know what goes on in his head,\nbut I think if you win the game, he respects that outcome.\"\nI nodded and stared off into\nspace. That was...somewhat comforting. At least I didn't have to worry about\nliving in hiding forever.\nCaliber stood, shaking me from\nmy thoughts. \"Well, I should go. My break's almost over.\" He turned his back to\nme as he looked out the windows one last time. \"Goodbye, Decipher.\" He said.\n\"It was nice.\" \nI stood next to him, and walked\nwith him to the door. \"Thanks for everything, Caliber.\" I whispered, trying to\ndeny that this was our farewell. \"I hope to see you again someday.\"\n\"Doubtful.\" He said with a hint\nof a laugh. \"You'll make it out.\" \nHe didn't look back at me as he\ndisappeared into the dark hallway.\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/603951-skyfall-chapter-25.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/611016-skyfall-chapter-27.json"}