Kitsune in the Shadows

Those two weeks felt like nothing more than a moment.

Raynelle took me and Ava all over the city, buying seemingly everything that might be useful. Lots of weapons and armour, including many that neither Ava nor myself were confident in using. I told Raynelle that I wasn’t sure about some of them, particularly the larger axes and hammers, but she would always retort about some situation where it would be helpful, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who went through this, as Raynelle did much the same for Ava.

The first thing Raynelle took us to buy specifically for Ava was a bow… well, multiple bows… Apparently, Ava had been practising using a bow while flying with Raynelle. She had apparently started her training about a year before I started mine. The idea of Ava using a bow made sense to me, though I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be in practice.

Once Raynelle was happy with our weapons and armour, she quickly moved on to getting us tents, covers, pillows and many other little things to help us when camping out. In particular, she bought many extra covers and pillows just in case it got a little cold while we were camping or just in case some of our equipment got wet or dirty for whatever reason.

The next stop was at Ana’s store to pick up extra clothes for all the different occasions Raynelle could come up with, even including a few fancier dresses, just in case. Ana also went out of her way to give me a sewing kit so I would be able to fix any tears or other damage to our clothes… although as soon as Raynelle heard that, she asked for a couple more outfits… just in case we didn’t have the time to repair the clothes.

The final stop was to pick up food, mainly preserved food but many fresh ingredients as well, at Ava’s request. Through this, I found out that anything stored inside my shadow will still spoil, although much slower than normal.

By the end of the two weeks, there was a mountain of everything we had bought sitting in the house. There was so much that I didn’t know how anyone would have been able to carry all of it, even if it was for two people. Thankfully, I had Umbra, who was able to take it all into my shadow without any issues.

However, that wasn’t all that happened over those two weeks. I got to visit the temple two more times, although those two visits felt different from all the others. They were… quieter… I just got to enjoy being around Ovia; there was no rush to say anything as we had been talking the entire time leading up to our meeting in person, and even if there was something I wanted to say, I could just say it after I had left. It was… nice… calming.

During the second meeting, Aria pointed out that the gemstone on both mine and Ovia’s necklaces had changed; the thin sliver around the edge had grown such that it now resembled a full moon. After trying a few different things, there didn’t seem to be changes other than its appearance.

It was now the day after that second meeting. The day I had to make my decision.

…

The three of us sat around the table, yet no one spoke. Both Ava and I were already dressed and ready to head out at a moment’s notice. We were both wearing relatively light leather armour with a few metal plates here and there.

It’s already here…

…

“Well… here we are,” Raynelle broke the silence, “Have you decided on what you want to do?”

…

Have I decided?

…

I…

Everyone has said it would be a good idea…

I even got a note from a God specifically telling me to go…

…

We just spent two weeks preparing… buying everything…

If I said no now…

…

“Hey,” Ava wrapped her arm around my shoulders, “Don’t think so hard about it. Just do what you want to do, alright?”

…

“I…” My words came out slowly as I felt the nerves building in my stomach, “I… I’ll… go…”

No matter how I was feeling, I just couldn’t bring myself to say I wasn’t going to leave with everything that had already happened, with all the support they had given me, with everyone wanting me to leave this place, to find somewhere better.

It took a moment for anyone to respond after I made my decision.

“… I… expected as much…” Raynelle said, deflating a little, “I’ve already gone and put you on an escort mission up to Haelmor… they’re leaving this afternoon…”

“I-” I felt compelled to say something but was interrupted.

“Was actually pretty lucky too,” She chuckled a little as if trying to lighten the mood, “There were two different escort missions heading up to Haelmor today. I got you two on the second one, so if there is anything on the route, the first group should take care of it… there couldn’t be a better first mission for the two of you…”

…

She… really put a lot of thought into this…

…

All because I asked one question…

All because of one note…

…

“Well, what are the two of you doing?!” Raynelle suddenly shouted, “Let’s go through your final checks. I’m not letting either of you out the door unless I think you’re prepared.”

Both Ava and I got out of our seats before Raynelle immediately started checking the gear we were wearing.

“Now, Kierra, I need you to remember this,” She knelt down, checking that the sheaths for my knives were fastened on securely, “I know that you like to dress in all black and that you’re much more comfortable using knives compared to any other weapons. But please don’t forget to keep a bigger weapon visible at all times, just like the spear on your back. If you don’t, you might start getting on people’s nerves, looking like some kind of thief or assassin. I’m sure you can imagine how some people might feel seeing someone dressed in all black without any obvious weapons on them.”

“You already told me that…”

“And I’m telling you again.”

She pulled the strap holding the spear against my back tight before turning to face Ava and doing similar checks.

“And Ava, since you’re the big sister here, I’m trusting you to take care of Kierra. I don’t want even a scratch on her before we see each other again.”

“Of course I will,” Ava smirked, “That’s the whole reason why I’m following her.”

Raynelle launched before looking back over at me, “Kierra, this goes for you too. Take care of Ava; you know she can get a bit too excited sometimes. I’m hoping you’ll be able to reign her in.”

I simply nodded.

Once Raynelle was happy that our gear was fastened securely, she made me get Umbra to pull everything back out of my shadow before going item by item, ensuring that everything was there and ready to go.

“I… don’t know what else I can do for you now…” She said as she handed the last shirt over to Umbra, “It looks like the two of you are set to go… to… leave…”

I could have sworn I saw a tear form in her eye, but she quickly wiped it away.

“Actually, I do have one more thing to give you two…” She stuck her hand into her pocket before pulling out three small pieces of paper, “I asked the old man at the craft store if he could get these made a while ago but couldn’t find the right moment to give them to the two of you.”

She handed Ava and me each one piece of paper while keeping one for herself. On each of the pieces of paper was a small painting of the three of us huddled together in the old man’s store. Mine, however, was a little different. On the back, there was a smaller painting of three animals: a large purple bear, a white fox and a black crow.

I couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle as I realised what the animals were representing.

Raynelle… is a lot like a mama bear…

She’s done so much…

…

But…

How did the old man know about me and Ava?

Looking closer at the painting on the back, I noticed something else unusual. There was a slight wobble around the edges, much like the letters on the note from JD.

“These are probably more for me than for you,” Raynelle’s voice pulled me away from my thoughts, “But it always helps to have a good memory close to you… makes it much easier to bounce back if anything does happen… Not that I think it’s going to.”

I carefully folded the paper and put it in my breast pocket so I could make sure it was always close.

“Now, all I have left to give you is advice… Not that I think you need much more that I haven’t already given you over the last few years… I know you two girls are smart and know how to take care of yourselves…” She paused and took a deep breath, “I guess the best thing I can do right now is give advice for your upcoming escort mission… It’s important to remember that you’ll be with a lot of people. You’ll have the client and their entourage; in this case, you don’t have to worry about them. I checked ahead of time, and they are on their way back to Haelmor. They’re not locals from around here, so they’ll more than likely be used to being around beastkin. The people you will have to look out for are any other adventurers or mercenaries who are with you. Many people go from escort request to escort request, so you never know who you might meet when you take one on.”

…

How many people are there going to be?

“You should go out of your way to try and find someone decent to stick close to. I’m not telling you to become their friend or anything, but just find someone you can stay around. If it looks like you’re part of a group, fewer people will try to mess with you, alright?” She turned to face Ava, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Ava, that will more than likely be your job… I know how Kierra gets around people she doesn’t know.”

“Heard loud and clear!” Ava shouted, immediately lightening the mood in the room.

“I guess… I’ll be seeing the two of you off now then…” Raynelle briefly hid her face before standing up and pushing us towards the door.

It’s really happening now…

It’s time to… say goodbye…

Ava opened the door, and the two of us stepped out, but Raynelle remained, standing in the door frame…

“I’ll be sure to wrap things up here myself… I need to sell this house now that everyone’s moving out,” Raynelle put on a smile, but I could hear her voice straining, “Go on, they’re probably already getting everyone together at the gate… You don’t want to miss such a good opportunity.”

…

But… I…

I don’t want to give this up…

I don’t want to leave Raynelle… to leave home…

…

But…

She did it all… for me…

…

Not just her… Ava, Ovia, Aria… Beni and Celica too… even Ana and the old man…

They all helped me get here…

…

If I don’t go now…

…

…

Not yet…

In the spur of the moment, I ran straight back to Raynelle, wrapping my arms around her tightly.

“W-What’s this?” She asked, clearly surprised.

“Goodbye… Mom…” I buried my face in her shirt to hide any tears, “Thank you…”

I want to be a little selfish…

“Oh, c-come on,” Raynelle had a slight tremble in her voice as she wrapped her arms around me, “You make it sound like this is goodbye forever… As soon as I’m ready… I’ll come looking for my daughters… both my daughters…”

Ava didn’t say anything; instead, she just joined us for one final hug.

We stayed like that for only a few seconds, yet, in that moment, it meant the world to me.

“Alright now, it’s really time for you two to go… I’m sure you don’t want me to follow and embarrass the two of you in front of everyone you’ll be travelling with,” Raynelle stood up straight, wiping the tears from her eyes, “I wish you all the best on this next journey in your lives.”

“Bye, mom!” Both Ava and I called out in unison as we started walking.

Raynelle stood in the doorway the whole time. Every few steps, I would look back and see her with a smile on her face, waving at us.

…

Thank you… for everything…

…

I just hope that you find us again… soon…