Boy's Dreams and Fox Tails

[*ShinyKitty*]

Osai looked left, then right. It all looked the same. And even with his hightened sense of smell, they all just mixed into one giant mess. How was he going to find her? He wasn't even sure if he could find his way back to the house.

He looked up through the trees and at the star-filled sky. He predicted that it was around one or two in the morning, leaving him only a couple of hours before Kaiyo would wake up and find him gone. Another reason why I left my shoes-- he thought, if Kaiyo wakes before I come back, she will know I didn't just leave to go back to the city. Course, she'll also know that I snuck out to find Midori...Ah, the prices I pay. He continued walking deeper into the forest, the trees getting dencer as he went.

He jumped as a sound came from the distance. He searched hopfull that it was the girl, but what he found didn't please him. A large animal stalked in the darkness, only a few yards away. Osai quickly hid behind a tree, peeking around to watch the creature. It looked too large to be a wolf, or even a bear, though the shadows of the trees liked to play tricks on people like him. But, the next thing Osai knew, the beaming eyes of the shadow locked on him and started getting closer.

Oh nuts! Osai reacted as most would in this situation: run for his life. The creature was gaining fast, and it was expected, Osai running on two human feet. Aparently the thought of Midori was stronge in his head, for in a second he was running on four paws as a silver wolf. Not really his best choice. At least a brown wolf, since the moon would just reflect his shiney coat. But Osai didn't think about details, and just ran, trying to gain some distance.

He looked back to see where the creature was. It could be seen, either giving up or just waiting for Osai to stop. But nither of those thoughts went across his mind, since, suddenly he caught his paw on a up-rooted tree root, that sent him tumbling down into a river bed.

He blinked after the shock left him and pain weld up in his arm and head. The last sight he saw was the rushing water that past him turn red, and then everything went black.

[Sakura]

Midori tensed up and stiffened when she heard the sound of someone stumbling and then crashing into the river bed. Then a shiver went down her spine when she heard the low growl of the beast that had given her the very wounds that she had nearly healed from.

She got up to run but then the scent of the one who was likely the beast's victim drift to her nose.

It was that strange man from the house. It wasn't exactly the same scent, but it was his scent all the same. He must have gone looking for her, and he must have ran into that beast.

Her fault... if he died, it'd be her fault. Just like with Brandt... no, she couldn't have that. She couldn't!

Midori growled and took off towards where she could smell him from. She saw him just as she leaped over a tree root. He was in the form of a silver wolf and he was bleeding, but she couldn't tell where because of the river...

A large roar sounded behind her and she whirled around to find the beast. The very same one that had killed Brandt.

She growled at the creature before she ran at it and leaped with the intention of ripping it's throat out. It bared its fangs at her before its large paw suddenly smacked her into a tree. She got up quickly and leaped at it again when she saw that it had set its eyes on Osai.

Midori was not going to let this thing kill anyone else! She bared her fangs, growling at it, before she leaped once more. She was able to hit it this time and she felt her fangs snap through something at its neck.

The creature seemed to stumble back with a roar before it suddenly stumbled back and ran off.

Tiredly, she watched it leave before she looked over to Osai. He was still bleeding... She couldn't exactly help him as a wolf... but she could as a human.

Midori padded over to him and shifted back into a human, wincing as her old and new injuries were keenly felt on her human skin. She ignored it for the sake of the one who had tried to find her in the middle of the night and in a deep forest too.

She pulled him out of the river and grabbed some moss to place over the wound she saw on his head. Could he be hurt anywhere else? She didn't know, but all she could do was help with his head wound until he woke up and could tell her about anywhere else it hurt.

[*ShinyKitty*]

Osai opened his eyes, mouning from the pain. Once he became concious again, he automadiclly changed back to human. He saw above him a faint image of a girl. "Mother?" He squinted his eyes, soon becoming in focas and saw the girl that was Midori. He sat up, setting his hand against his head, feeling the moss that was placed there. "Um, sorry." He looked around and noticed that they were in a river. He looked at the girl, dazed and confused. "Uh, what happened?" The pain in his head was so strong that he didn't even notice that he was still bleeding from his arm.

[Sakura]

"Do I look like your mother?" Midori said sharply, then she frowned. He wasn't in any position to be recognizing her and for all she knew, he could have had brain damage from his head wound. "No, I'm sorry for that, and for the fact that you got hurt looking for me."

Her fault, as always.

"To answer your question though, you were in the forest when you tripped over something and landed in the river which resulted in your head wound there," Midori explained. "Now I need to make sure that you're not suffering from brain damage. What's your name?"

[*ShinyKitty*]

Osai looked at her. "Looking for you? Oh! So, you're Midori?" He laughed and removed his hand. "My head just hurts, I'm fine." He looked down at himself, he was soaked. His eyes widened as he saw that there was blood running down his arm. "Oh. I'm bleeding." He said it so calmly. Instead of letting Midori take care of it as she had done with his head, he just simply tore the bottom of his shirt and tied it around the wound.

He looked at Midori, smiling. "Well, it's probably not the best idea to just sit here." He lifted himself up to his feet, wobbling a bit because of his head, but eventually managed to get himself onto the dry land. He leaned against the trunk of a tree and sighed. "And if you must know, I'm Osai. And thanks for helping me." He gave a sentimental smile and looked up at the sky.

[Sakura]

"I only helped because you took the trouble to look for me," Midori replied. She eyed him warily as he stood up and watched him as he leaned against the tree. He looked somewhat fine, but not enough to get back to the house before sunrise.

She stood up herself and winced slightly. Her back was a definite bruise or maybe something broke, she didn't know. It didn't matter, she'd get Osai back to the safety of which was the house and then she'd leave. Her wounds would heal in time, so she'd be able to leave when she wanted.

"And I know who you are, I was just making sure you hadn't lost your head when you fell," Midori told him. She walked over to him and extended a hand to him. "Look, the forest is hard to navigate in the dark, so you need to follow me if you can and I'll take you back to the house, okay?"

[*ShinyKitty*]

He didn't look at her or take her hand. He just continued to stare at the sky. "I came here to look for you to make sure you were all right, and it's obviose that you're not. You're covered in cuts and bruises and that thing, whatever it was, is still out there. And since I'm guessing you aren't willing to stay at the house because of Kaiyo, I'm going to stay here with you." He took the trouble to sneek out and look for her, risking Kaiyo's trust and his own life, he wasn't going to just leave like that.

[Sakura]

"I don't need your concern," Midori told him sharply. She noticed something on the ground and bent down to pick it up, wincing at the motion. It was the thing she had bit off of the creature's neck.

She examined it closer and found it to be a collar with some sort of wire running through it. A controlling device... and it looked rather like the ones that she had seen on the other creature.

"The creature won't be back," Midori told him. She did not want to argue with him over the fact that it was much better for him to be inside where it was safe! "And my wounds will heal."

She looked at him and frowned. "You do realize that chivalry is dead right?"

[*ShinyKitty*]

Osai sighed. "Fine. You want to know the real reason I'm staying? I have some questions." He brought his head down, facing Midori. He eyed the collar that was in her hands.

Someone was controlling it? If that's so, than why is whoever after her? And why did it attack me? If this person was after Midori, than I would think that he, or she would just have that beast ignor me. I mean, I looked human! He gathered his thoughts, and decided to start off his questioning,

He looked her straight in the eye, and said, "To start with, who are you, really?"

[Sakura]

Midori looked at him skeptically. "Why should I answer you? I'm not about to tell you my secrets when I don't know anything really about you. I saved your life, I don't owe you any information," she told him crossing her arms over her chest.

Brandt would have told him... but then he always had that ability to be able to discern whether someone was trustworthy or not. She frowned as she looked at Osai with cautious eyes. Was she in any position to trust him? And if she did tell him, wouldn't she be risking his life by letting him in on her secrets? There were too many ifs.

[*ShinyKitty*]

Osai shrugged. "It's funny. You seemed so nice. I thought you were a girl that would openly accept other's help. But, now, you just seem like any other person I've met. Just another girl with her own little secrets. I mean, sure, I have my secrets as well, but I know what trust is." He pushed himself away from the tree and started walking away from Midori. "And don't worry. I'll find my way eventually. I mean, that creature wasn't actually after me, now was it?"

He paused, stopping in his tracks, not turning to face Midori. "You don't want to tell me anything for you don't trust me. I understand. But, you're not even giving me a chance. You want to know about me? Then ask." Then he just continued walking, not knowing if Midori would stop him or not.

[Sakura]

Midori watched him leave before what he said registered in her thoughts. The creature had gone after him... and as soon as they caught up to it, its target would not be just her but him too. If Brandt were still here.... he'd call her an idiot for even allowing something like this to happen.

But he wasn't and she needed to come to terms with that. Life would not pause for her to understand that Brandt was gone from life.

"Wait," she called to him softly. Then frowning as she wondered whether he heard her or not, she repeated it louder. "Wait! I... I'll tell you about me if you tell me who you are... and how you came about your shapeshifting abilities."

Midori stood still not wanting to look up incase he decided that he was mad at her for not trusting him. She continued to stand there, looking at the ground as she wondered whether he would come or not.

[purplefoxyofdoom]

Kaiyo rolled over in her bed and blinked open her eyes to the glaring sunlight. It was always brighter when it was just rising. She yawned and slipped out of bed. Osai must have put her here. She smiled, he was quite sweet, for a partner in crime.

She put on her silk robe and headed downstairs, wondering where he had slept. After checking all the spare rooms and the couches she wandered into the kitchen. Where was he?

One of the workers wandered in, ready to start making breakfast. She startled when she saw Kaiyo. Apparently not all of them expected her to still be here. "Good morning, miss."

She smiled warmly. "Good morning Maria. Did you happen to see my companion anywhere?"

"No, but there was a ruckus in the woods last night. Maybe he went on a walk and ran into a wolf or something. They're common here, you know."

Kaiyo's face fell. She cursed him under her breath. Of course he went looking for that d*mn wolf-girl! "Yes, I know. It's such a nice day, I think I'll go on a walk as well." she said pleasantly.

"You want me to make breakfast enough for you, miss?"

"Oh no Maria. I'm fine." With one last smirk, Kaiyo dashed up the stairs and got dressed before she went outside, noticing the shoes by the door. The idiot, she thought, you can't go walking through woods without shoes. He couldn't have gotten far.

The morning air chilled her skin through her thin tank top. Her feet were plenty warm though, concealed in combat boots as they were. She scaled a rock easily and pulled out some binoculars.

That bastard. This is what you get when you trust people. That's why I alwasy worked alone. How can I be so stupid?

She glanced around the area before heading out in one direction, cursing with each step and itching to pull the gun from her waistband...

[*ShinyKitty*]

Osai smiled, turning around. He leaned against a tree once more, crossing his arms. "Well, to tell the truth, I don't know much about my past, at least before 10 years." He paused, trying to think of what to say first. He truly didn't know much about his past, only knowing of dreams he'd had. But, there was really no way to know if they were real or just images that his mind just thought up. But, he started with those anyway.

"I lived in a small village, maybe 20 some houses. My family consisted of my younger sister, my mother and myself. I didn't know my father, either died or just was away all the time. We never talked about him past my mother telling stories about some of his adventures and hunts that he'd done." He gave another quick pause before continuing onto a different subject.

"That I can figure, Seiya, my sister and I were born with these powers. I can take the form of any animal, as my sister can take the form of any human that's she's seen before. I don't really understand what or where they came from. I--I can't even remember if my mother had any powers like these." He held his head in his hand, thinking, trying to remember anything that would explain who he is. He thought that Midori might actually know where he came from, she seemed like she might.

He looked up at her and sighed. "The only other thing I can really tell you is that, one day, my mother went out into the forest the bordered our village, and she didn't come back. Seiya and I went out to search for her, and--we found blood and foot prints of a beast--" He looked down at the ground again. A painful memory, the only one he know is true. "We were 6 at the time. We couldn't find our way back home, and with that beast out there, we didn't know if we were going to live--

"Wandering. Trying to just find someone that could help. Anyone. After days, a man ran into us. He knew us, but we'd never seen him. At least, not in the village. He lead back towards the village, but, we were attacked. A large wolf-like thing. Probably the same that killed my mother. The man told us to run, he fought it and kept it away from us, and that was the last we saw of him.

"During that attack, both Seiya and I were hit back at the trees. I carried my unconcoius sister with a broken arm and covered in blood. But I was determend to get us out of there." He sighed. This is were it all came together. Just thinking about all of these made Osai realize what happened. Even though he didn't know everything, he knew more than what he thought.

He looked up at Midori once more and continued, "More days went by, thankfully, we didn't run into that beast again, but we also didn't run into anyone else. It had been at least a week since that day, and we were getting sick. Seiya was finally awake, but not well, and I had lost a lot of blood. We were surly near death. But soon, we found a small town. They took us in, and cared for us. They tried to find where we came from, but it had seemed that that attack and the impact from the tree caused us both amnesia. We couldn't remember anything before we got attacked. Though, I could remember up to when we found that blood and tracks. Seiya didn't really remember the man, but I did." He stopped, realizing that he was starting to ramble. "But, anyway, even when we got older, we couldn't find that village in the forest again. No one could. So, we made a new life in the city, even if I never agreed with it--" He sighed, and sat down on the ground. For the first time in a long time he was thinking about his past and present and what he was doing.

[Sakura]

Midori stared at Osai with a soft look on her face. He and his sister had gone through so much at such an early age... But then again, so had she. Why did their kind have to have such difficult lives?

She sat down as well, though careful of the injuries she still had. She mentally sighed, she had nearly healed from her last injuries too, and here she was with new ones. She continued looking at Osai before she cleared her throat slightly.

"Well, it's my turn then," Midori said sighing out loud. She swallowed once before she began. "I grew up in a similar village to yours. Small, quaint, and villagers who treated each other like family. Most, if not everyone, there were shapeshifters. Both my parents were shapeshifters, though only my mother could shift into any shape. My father was like you, he could only shift into the shape of an animal."

She smiled at the memory of her father before she continued with her story. "We were all living happily until a stranger came to the village around the time that I was ten. Being the small village that we were and the fact that we were far from civilization, strangers were an unusual sight for us. Even stranger was that this stranger was also a shapeshifter. His name was Brandt, and he came to us with the news that our village was going to be destroyed," she said eyes narrowing as she remembered. "He explained that he had come across a strange being who had the ability to put creatures under his control. This being was also coming towards their village and Brandt was sure that it was in order to enslave them all."

"Naturally the villagers refused to believe him and even went as far as casting him out. Some of us weren't as disbelieving though and went after him. It was a good thing too, because soon after we left, a dark mist enveloped the village. Haven't heard of hide or hair from the village after that," Midori said grimly. "As for the rest of us that had followed Brandt, we continued to do so as he guided us to living in the outside world. It wasn't long before the being from before found us. Deciding that it was best to split up, I went with Brandt as we traveled. We found work and it seemed to be going well for us, until that creature found us."

The memory of that moment made her wince as she closed her eyes. She held her arm in her lap as she opened her eyes once more. "It attacked me and probably would have killed me if not for Brandt. He lured the creature away and that was the last time I saw him. With the time granted to me, I was able to escape and the rest is history as that was when I was found by some nice folk who live near here."

Midori looked at him with wary eyes. "I've told you my story and you've told me yours. That leaves us with the issue of the creature. As you can see with this collar, it was being controlled. It also now knows your scent..."

She had trailed off as she pondered over how to deal with this. If she was on her own, she would have just moved on to keep the creature and them away from others. As it was, she could not, refused to drag him into her affairs. Plus, she wasn't about to let anyone else get killed by them.

Midori bit her lip as she tried to think of a solution. Why did things have to be so complicated sometimes!?!