Multi-Tailed Trouble: Part 2
"No, father, wait!" I called out, yet, he ignored me. I chased after him, "Father please wait!" He slowly began to fade into the mist. I was alone, no one else was around. I wondered for what seems like ages and soon entered a small town. People walked past me, like I didn't exist. "This isn't true!" I called out. "This is a nightmare, it has to be!"
I woke up and gasped. My head began to hurt once again. I turned to a window, it was still dark out. I lied back down and closed my eyes. Before I could fall back asleep, I felt something fluffy fall on me. Looking over my chest, there are... three tails... looking towards where they come from, I could see six more. What the... I looked further towards where the tails originated from and there starring me in the eye, was a girl, with silver hair and red eyes. "GAH!" I yelled out loud and fell back and fell off my bed. I pushed against the floor with my feet until I hit a wall. I heard childish laughter, "Did you know you talk in your sleep?" I looked up and saw a girl with red eyes and silver hair. Whilst looking at her hair,_ Are those... fox ears!?_ "Who are you?" I asked trying not to sound scared.
"What you don't remember me? I'm the girl you rescued yesterday." She jumped off my bed and onto me. "I'd thought I would stop by to say thank you!"
"But why do you-" I was cut off. "Why do I have nine tails and ears like a fox? I was born like this! And I wanted to ask you something... Can you accompany me back to my home town?"
"Uh... sure..." I was scared of her, which was the only reason I agreed. "Great!" she said excited, " We should leave right away!"
"But it's still dark out," I said, "I will need to visit the merchants for supplies." She gave out a long sigh. "Fine..." She got off of me and sat up with three of her tails in her lap. I crawled back into bed and turned to where she was sitting, she wasn't there._ Where'd she go?_ I turned back around and she was right there. I nearly fell back off my bed. "Please don't do that!" I said. "Don't do what?" She said tauntingly.
"Never mind. " I said letting out a sigh, "I have a guest room, you can-" She had already fell asleep. I lied back down and slowly fell back asleep.
I woke up due to the sound of birds chirping. I turned to where the girl was sleeping, and to my surprise, she was still asleep. I quietly got out of bed and silently walked out of the room. I walked into my living area and went over to where I kept my stash of gold coins. I had saved up quite a bit over the years. I may end up being a thief for the rest of my life. Most ways to get money now is to be a soldier, farmer, mercenary, or a merchant. I grabbed a few hundred and walked outside of my house. I walked into the town and over to a traveling goods merchant._ I don't know how long I'll be gone. I should at least prepare so I'm not caught off guard._ I payed for two knapsacks just in case I have to camp for a night. and a medium sized back pack to store some food and water supply. I also bought five water canteens.
I then went over to a foods merchant. There was a vast quantity of fruits, vegetables, and meats. "Do you sell dried meat?" I asked. He nodded and pointed over to a spot on his stand. Dried meat is god for long distance travels because it doesn't perish quickly. I bought enough to last awhile and before I walked off, I saw something kind of disturbing. I know most kinds of animals are edible... but fox? It had a horrible smell to it. I have had fox before when I was fairly far from home, but never again._ Better not walk past here when we leave._
I entered my house and saw the girl sitting in a chair with her ears dropped. Her ears perked back up when I entered the room."I thought you left." She said. "I plan on keeping my word." I said. She held her hands to her nose, "You smell awful!" She yelled. I hoped to avoid this. "I walked past a food merchant selling dead fox."
"What's with the bags?" She asked. "They're knapsacks and this one," I put the backpack on a table in front of me, "is enough food to last us until the next town." The way she looked, it was obvious she had been abandoned, much like me. "Alright, let's go," I said, "can you do something about..." I pointed at her tails and ears. "Okay," She said, "just turn around really quick." I raised and eyebrow and turned around. "Okay you can look now." She said. I turned around and saw that her tails and fox ears weren't there like they had never been there.
She walked out the front door and I followed her. "Okay, which way do we head first? We directly between two towns so it should take us about two days on foot for either." She pointed north, "Okay let's go!" We exited the town, and I looked back. I'll miss this place. "Oh right," I stopped the girl, " I never introduced myself, my name's Aeron. What do you call yourself?" I asked.
"My name is Lehkuna." She answered. "How did you end up in the forest?" I asked.
"With my earliest memory, I was in an orphanage and tossed around from family to family. Each one was worse than the last. I decided to run away from my last family, then I ran into the forest and got lost. I came across a group of bandits, and I guess you know the rest." She got in front of me and began walking backwards, "What about you? How did you end up alone?"
"I was abandoned when I was a child. I think I was about six years of age." I said. "Oh, I'm sorry I asked..." She said frowning. "It's okay," I said, "it no longer bothers me."
We continued down the dirt path for a few more hours and it finally became dark. "We should set up a camp now. Follow me." We walked into the brush about a couple minutes from the road. "What are we doing here?" Lehkuna asked. "It's a precaution, just in case a group of bandits come across us." I set up a camp fire and when I turned around Lehkuna was already asleep, using her five of her tails as a mattress, I'd guess, and using her other four as a blanket. Guess I wasted money buying two knapsacks. I lied out my knapsack, but I didn't go to sleep right away. I stayed awake to make sure nothing was trying to sneak up on us. I soon fell asleep though. I didn't dream this night, I woke up with Lehkuna lying right next to me with one of her tails over me lap.
I nudged her and she woke up, "Oh, sorry." she said and her face turned red. I didn't respond to it though. "We should be at the next town within a couple hours. Eat something and we should be off." I packed up the knapsack and I guess while I wasn't looking she hid her tails and ears again. With that, we were off to the next town.