Chapter Text
Lightning flashed, lighting up the dark sky for but a moment as the rumble of thunder echoed through the land. It had yet to start raining, though it was only a matter of time before the storm would arrive in its full glory.
Labored breathing could be heard as a tall figure stumbled through the vegetation of the countryside, trying to escape from some threat. Pale hair could be seen, though what would normally have been the color of fresh snow was currently dirty with tinges of blood and soil.
The man's foot caught an upturned tree root and he fell forward, shutting his eyes tightly and hissing in pain upon making contact with the ground. His abnormally sharp teeth were gritted as he twisted his body to clutch at his chest, where blood stained his clothing.
Of course, it would choose to start raining at this point and the figure let out a shuddering sigh, "Figures… this is stupid. Damn gods…."
The injured fox demon stared at a particularly large blade of grass several inches away, mulling over his predicament. He was injured - and severely so. It was unlikely that he'd make it out of this alive, especially if those infernal gods were still trying to track him down.
What did he do to deserve this? Ah, right - killed a bunch of people. It's been at least a couple of centuries since the last massacre, but apparently they aren't willing to forgive and forget. At least a dozen were gods… or was it two dozen?
Hell, no wonder they were pissed.
The wind kicked up and buffeted against his fallen form, causing him to shut his eyes. ‘Crap!’ He wasn't sure if it was from the storm or one of his attackers had managed to find him. He needed to keep moving…
He needed to hide.
The demon clenched his jaw, hating the thought of having to flee like some coward. The great and powerful Soul Eater, who has taken on great entities and overcame them despite being at a major disadvantage, having to run away. Until now, they feared him….
With a quiet sigh of resignation, Soul closed his eyes again and focused. His physical form shifted and started shrinking. Where there once was a more humanoid figure now laid a small, white fox. Well, mostly white, given the dirt and blood currently staining his fur.
Soul pushed himself to stand, staggering slightly and wincing as more blood dripped from his wound. He couldn't succumb to his injuries now; he had too much to prove to those high and mighty gods. Weak and injured was not how they were going to last remember him.
Ignoring the pain the best he could, the small fox trudged through the grass. His large ears swiveled at another rumble of thunder, trying to also listen for anything unusual. Not that he could exactly present much of a challenge in his current state. Maybe give them a nasty bite on the face….
Soul paused to shake out his fur, sending both blood and water flying. He immediately regretted it, nearly losing his balance and flopping over. 'Smooth move, idiot.' Apparently, the horrid sensation of damp fur outweighed the pain from a bleeding gash in his chest. 'Ew. Ow. Ew…'
Could his situation get any worse?
It was almost as if the Universe responded with a resounding "Yes!"
The rain became a torrential downpour, which soaked him to the bone in a matter of seconds. 'Since when did I stumble into an active hurricane? At least this damn rain should wash away my blood trail. The last thing I need right now is-'
He froze, hearing movement in a nearby bush. The fox youkai slowly turned his head to see a hulking silhouette. It was obvious to him what it was and he glared skyward, as if his torturer was among the clouds. '-a bear? Seriously, who is screwing with me right now?! What kind of karmic bullshit is this?!'
Soul arched his back and bristled, red eyes flashing angrily as the bear ambled closer. Once the large beast got within ten feet of him, the white fox bared his teeth and growled lowly, 'You really want to mess with me, you thick-headed nimrod?'
The bear paused and seemed to think things over, which gave Soul an inkling of hope that his tough posturing worked. Not that some 'dumb woodland animal' could ever hope to get the better of him when he was remotely close to full strength. However, the fox youkai was about as weak as an average fox at this point.
Once again, fate was clearly not in his favor as the bear bellowed and charged at him. With a snarl, Soul ducked as massive claws barely missed grazing his head. The adrenaline was fortunately numbing the pain for now, which allowed the fox to spring upward and latch onto the bear's neck with his jaws, 'Gotcha!'
With an enraged roar, the mighty ursine thrashed about as Soul clamped down harder, holding on for dear life. Unfortunately, being tossed about burned through his already fading strength faster. With one final shake, Soul came loose and flew several feet before making contact with the ground. Due to the force, his body tumbled another foot or two before sliding to a complete stop.
Soul laid there, stunned and in even worse pain than he had been initially. Hearing heavy footsteps, he mentally screamed at his body to get moving. It obliged, albeit very slowly and not without a large amount of agony. The battered youkai pushed himself up into an awkward seated position, drawing his lips back in a defiant snarl up at his encroaching killer.
He had thought his end would come by one of those pieces of shit claiming to be gods - likely from them raiding him because they sure as hell couldn’t seem to do it on fair terms. But here he was, about to be killed by one of those ‘dumb woodland animals.’ It was so pathetic that he felt bile rise in the back of his throat - or was that a side effect of having the shit beaten out of him?
Despite his (pathetic) attempts at intimidating the bear, the large creature grunted before taking another swipe at the small fox. Adrenaline and moxie could not save Soul this time and the weakened youkai went flying again, bleeding from the side of his neck where the bear’s claws raked him. He let out a gasp of pain upon making contact with the ground, shutting his eyes tightly.
His small form laid there, curled up and shivering in pain as the threads of fear wrapped themselves around him. Soul could not remember the last time he felt like this, though he had never before been skirting so close to death. Despite being so long-lived, he really did not want to die here. Not just because of his ego and his soon-to-be-killer being a simple bear, but for whatever reason… the thought of ceasing to exist terrified him.
His ears twitched slightly upon hearing the bear’s heavy breathing getting closer, likely as it moved in for the final blow. Try as he might, Soul could not get his limbs to move at all outside of the shivering. He felt a breath ruffle the fur around the back of his neck and stiffened, holding his breath….
Suddenly, there was a loud raucous that was enough to cause him to fold his ears against his head in an attempt to muffle it. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it sounded like someone was hitting something repeatedly and shouting at the top of their lungs.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*
“Go away! Back off!”
Soul belatedly realized that he no longer felt the bear breathing down his neck and dared to turn his head to look behind him. The bear could be seen running off, disappearing into the nearby bushes. ‘Huh.’
Faintly hearing other footsteps, the fox youkai’s eyes slowly drifted in the direction he made them out to be from. He was quite tired and was more than ready for a nap - even if that nap turned out to be permanent. He’d lost a fair amount of blood and had been in two fights almost back to back. If this new development was how he was going to leave this world, then so be it.
Instead, his eyes trailed up to the form of a human girl as she hurried over to him. He couldn’t make too much out between his fading eyesight and the darkness. There was some artificial source of light, but it only worked to further obscure her. He felt a hand rest on his side and lightly ghost across his wounds, but he found it strangely reassuring.
His ears caught whispers, mostly in regards to her assessment of his sorry state of being at the moment. Soul’s eyes once again traveled up towards her face, but couldn’t make much out aside from a strange - almost childish - hairstyle. Normally, he’d be alarmed in such a situation, but he felt strangely at ease.
There was a peculiar rustling sound and he saw her taking her outermost garment off, which seemed almost like a hooded cloak. Soul winced and squeezed his eyes shut again as he felt himself being scooped up and wrapped in the article of clothing. Everything hurt so badly that he almost wished he was killed by that stupid bear. He apparently let out a whine, because he felt her grip on him tighten before she stood with him in her arms.
“Don’t worry little fox - you’re safe. Rest now and please stay alive….”
The fox youkai was confused by the tone of her voice and picked up the faintest quiver in it. Soul also realized just how cold he was, even while being wrapped up in whatever she had been wearing. Despite his usual pride, he found himself unconsciously snuggling up against her for warmth and let out another small whine from the effort. He could feel them moving - and judging from the motion, she was running.
He struggled to stay awake and succumbed to his exhaustion shortly after - lulled to sleep by her heartbeat.