Poisonous Fox

As they returned to camp, Kate could not help but focus upon the far-too-light creature carried in her arms.

Even when Janet ran ahead to set all the knights upon their surroundings, still, Kate gazed upon the creature, who Kate was increasingly certain was a female, thanks to Kate’s sixth sense. In fact, if not for that very same sense, then Kate would have doubtlessly tripped on the way back. She was just that engrossed. That was how unusual the kunbeor seemed.

At least, Kate thought the creature was a kunbeor since the creature wore clothes and had probably been trained. The creature also lacked the look of a pit-fighter–far too young and small and light. If not a kunbeor though, then definitely some kind of kunny.

Just one unlike any Kate had ever seen before.

The ears were longer and a bit sharper, the muzzle was a bit more pronounced, and instead of being uniform, the tail was broader at the bottom third before narrowing to a tip. Kate managed to work a hand around to the creature’s face and cracked open one of the eyes: a bright and reflective cyan, from what Kate could see in the approaching firelight.

“Ugh,” Gregory sneered. “You’re touching it? Seriously?” Gregory said disdainfully, drawing Kate from her inspection. She felt a wave of irritation, but pushed it down. They had almost reached the camp anyways, and were just passing through the outer perimeter of circled wagons.

“Just curious,” Kate played off her inspection. “Hey, you ever see a kunny like this?” Kate asked.

Gregory scoffed, offended. “You’re asking me?”

“Oh… that’s right.” Kate said, pretending she had just remembered who had murdered Gregory’s mother. “Nevermind I asked.”

“Godslicking kunnies,” Gregory swore, sounding depressed and angry. At least he had stopped bothering her.

Kate left him to his grumbling while she continued her inspection. The tips of the ears looked soft as felt cloth and were a bit lighter than the rest of the fur. Kate ran her fingers across it, pinching the skin and fur gently, stroking the ear, just a bit.

She decided that she needed to perform a proper inspection to both treat the wounds and to get to know her new pet. And Kate had already decided that somehow, that she would have this kunbeor.

Before Kate reached the firepit, she was intercepted by the caravan master and apprentice alchemist. Apparently Lieutenant Janet Muleater had come straight back to rouse the guards and had left the rest of the caravan in a state of confusion. Of course, everybody noticed knights fanning out to scout the perimeter. Given that the caravan was parked in the wastes, this generated not a small amount of concern.

Which explained why Caravan Master Manny Stillson came wringing his cap between his hands with Charson on his heels.

“The knights are abuzz, Lady Guardson,” Stillson said. “What’s happening? Are we in danger?” Stillson grimaced and gave the alchemist some side eye. “Is it–” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “the wyrkwik?”

The what? Kate thought. But before she asked just what those were, Charson had already butted in.

“You have already been told, Manny!” Charson protested. “It’s nothing to do with me. Probably bandits. How would any of those things reach this side of the chasm? Besides, the wyrkwik wouldn’t have left that–” Charson nodded towards the creature held in Kate’s arms “-thing alive and uninfested.”

“Do we know that it isn’t?” Stillson asked, backing a step away from Kate now that he recognized what she was caring. “What… what did you find?” he asked.

“We are unsure, Master Stillson,” Gregory answered on Kate’s behalf. “Isn’t that right Kate?”

Gregory nudged Kate, drawing her from the assessment she had been giving the creature. In the light, Kate saw the creature had the most peculiar lilac fur, lush and glossy.

“Hm?” Kate asked. “Oh, right. We need to determine what threat we face. Is there a bench available?”

“But it’s not infested, right?” Stillson asked nervously.

Charson scoffed, “you should know it isn’t.” His lips curled into an arrogant smirk.

“But yeah, a bench?” Kate asked, getting the idiot men back on track.

“If I may ask for clarification, what for?” Stillson asked. “You won’t be vivisecting it, right?“ The caravan master looked a little queasy at the mention of that.

“That happened once,” Charson said drolly. “Once.”

“Yes, but my table was ruined,” Stillson said.

Kate ignored the by-play between them. Because in the end, whatever those two got up to was their own business. What Kate wanted, no needed, was a space to examine the creature, the girl? The kunbeor.

“The table?” Kate pressed.

“Ah–well we should have one available in my administrative wagon. Let me just make sure it’s cleaned up. Wouldn’t want to stain it further…”

Kate followed, but not before Charson leaned in to look over the kunbeor. Charson’s sole visible eye was fixed upon the girl.

“What is that?” Charson asked. He reached up to the lens in his half-mask and flicked a toggle while looking over her. “Certainly not a Kaivan variety I’m familiar with.”

“Me either,” Kate shrugged, blowing past him and heading towards the covered wagon that Stillson had disappeared into.

Inside, the caravan master was grumbling about the mess while looking for a clean space. Kate peeked around him, and saw that the wagon was absolutely stuffed to the brim and a cluttered mess. Absolutely packed with junk, some of it possibly rotten, and none of it appropriate to examine the kunbeor.

“Why do you need somewhere nice to set it down?” Gregory asked. “Just use the ground by the fire.”

“Huh. That would work...” Kate had enough presence to question herself, and why she had at first insisted on a table. Why had Kate wanted to treat the creature like she would a human? It was just an animal, she had to remind herself. They lived in the dirt just fine.

Discomfortable with the notion, but still following through, Kate found a clear spot near the firepit and set the kunbeor down flat on the ground.

By that time, Janet had returned.

“Figure anything out yet?” Janet asked, stepping up and hovering over where Kate knelt.

Upon seeing Janet, Charson interjected himself into the conversation. “Lieutenant, what is this creature, and from where did it hail? I’ve never seen one like it.”

“That is one of the questions we want answered,” Janet said. “But it looks like my niece hasn’t even examined its wounds yet.”

“Right,” Kate said, coughing away the embarrassment. Kneeling over the kunbeor, Kate began assessing the injuries, beginning with peeling off the jacket.

It got caught on the kunbeor’s skin where the wounds were, and there was nothing for it except to tug it off as gently as possible. As Kate peeled the sleeves off, the creature whimpered in its sleep.

But as the sleeve came loose, Kate realized that this was no ordinary creature. Her eyes landed on the creature’s forearms.

“She’s marked?” Kate said, thinking out loud.

“W-what?!” Gregory yelped.

Janet unsheathed her blade, moving like a viper, faster even than Kate could react, and held the tip against the creature’s throat.

“Get a Seal!” she called out. “Joel! Get me a godslicking Seal!”

“Isn’t that a bit much?” Kate asked, watching the cold steel dimple the creature's soft neck. The very tip nicked the flesh, causing a droplet of blood to form.

“An unknown marked creature of unclear motivations?” Janet said. “No. If we didn’t have Seals on hand, I would insist we kill it.”

“But–!” Kate began to protest, but it was Caravan Master Stillson that made a counter argument.

“Surely this kunbeor is worth much more than the risk of keeping her. The owners will likely reward us appropriately when their servant is returned. Even more so because of the markings.”

“My first duty is our safety,” Janet growled. “Keep your profits out of it, merchant.”

“Is that not the purpose of this trip?” Stillson countered. Janet leveled a glare at him for just a second, before turning her attention back to the kunbeor.

Kate had a feeling that she would have continued the discussion, but for the very same security concerns she was arguing for. Afterall, getting stuck in an argument was counter to situational awareness.

Knight Joel Warson approached carrying a Seal. It was a specially made collar for constraining and limiting marked individuals. It was designed to prevent access to the ethereal realms and it disrupted most sacred arts. Personally, Kate found them distasteful, but so long as one never slipped around her neck, she could live with them existing.

“Lieutenant,” Warson said, holding out the Seal for inspection.

“Nevermind that,” Janet said. “Hurry and put it on.”

Warson nodded and began to lower himself to the creature’s level where he would manhandle the collar around the creature’s neck. A wave of revulsion hit Kate, though she failed to really identify the source. However, she knew something was intolerable, and rather than thinking about what, she blurted, “I’ll do it!”

“You know how?” Warson asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.

“Just slip it on, right?” Kate asked.

“You’ll need to verify the circuit’s closed,” Warson explained. He glanced at the Lieutenant as though needing confirmation.

“Ugh, fine! Let her do it,” Janet said. “So long as it’s Sealed, I won't spit.”

Kate took the collar from Warson and slipped the collar open. The clasp was a simple catch, though the hinge was practically invisible. The collar was constructed of black metal and low silver. The geometric designs engraved upon it might have been enticing, if not for their effect. As it was, looking too long at the designs left Kate’s stomach turning.

Once the collar was opened, Warson directed, “Make sure to remove the keyed pin.” He acted as though she had forgotten, or as though she were some rube. She knew how collars worked.

“Of course,” Kate snapped, her cheeks heating just a tad.

Along the hidden hinge there was a removable artificed pin, with a head of ruby and a needle of steel. It was the key to the lock. Once removed, the only way to open the collar would be to re-insert the pin. And of course, the pin was keyed. Even if someone provided a different pin of similar make, it would fail to work. Gregory had tried describing the ‘entanglement’ in the past, but none of them really mattered, nor the how, only the what.

Once the pin was removed, she hung on to it, drawing as little attention to it as she could. She then put the collar around the kunbeor’s neck. Kate’s breath caught as she slipped her hands behind the neck and around the throat. The skin was so smooth and soft! Even with the fur. Almost like silk.

The collar clicked into place. Kate felt that something had just been robbed from the world, and she disliked the sensation.

Janet resheathed her sword. “The pin?” she prompted Kate, holding out a hand.

“Hold on,” Kate said, pointing at the wounds visible on the creature’s shoulder. The tunic bared her shoulders, leaving much visible. “We need to treat these.”

“Which has no bearing on the key,” Janet said, wiggling her fingers. “Hand it over. Now.”

“Fine,” Kate almost spat, dropping the artificed pin into Janet’s calloused hand. “But these wounds…”

“Are rotting, I believe,” Alchemist Charson interjected, peering over Kate’s shoulder. “In fact, it is surprising you can stand being so near that stench, Lady Guardson.”

Kate paused. How had she not noticed that, she wondered.

“Yeah, but we gotta do something,” she said. She dug through her pockets until she found the strongest healing elixir she had brought, the one she reserved for emergencies, and the one she had bought with her own Chargers.

Gregory muttered under his breath. If not for Kate’s sixth sense, she would have failed to realize he was protesting. At least at first. When she uncorked it, he finally made his outburst audible.

“You cannot be serious!” he shouted. “On a gods serving kunny?!”

“The lad’s right,” Warson said, eyeing the elixir dubiously. “That is quite the expense…”

“Worth it,” Kate said, as she slowly poured the vial into the kunbeor’s mouth, past the delicate lips, the unnaturally white teeth, and long thin tongue. Kate shivered as she watched the creature’s throat bob as she swallowed.

“May I see the vial?” Alchemist Charson asked. “At least, if you’ve no further use of it, Lady Guardson.”

“Yeah, sure,” Kate said absentmindedly, handing it over.

The alchemist took it and held it up to his nose, sniffing it, before dabbing his finger inside and tasting it. “A high ranked healing potion. Though I would still expect it to fail against such severe wounds.”

“What rank?” Warson asked. Janet was hanging back a bit, and when Warson asked that, Janet perked up.

“Silver,” Charson answered. “At the least.”

Kate began to feel a tad bit uncomfortable, especially with how Janet was not focusing on her. Surprisingly, the next outburst came from Gregory instead.

“Silver!” Gregory shouted. “You barely gave me a copper when I needed it! Why in the Crown’s name would you–”

Kate had to think back to what Gregory was referring to. But eventually, she remembered. He had been burned when his his anti-pickpocket device that misfired. He had complained about it non-stop for the rest of the day, like a little child with a smashed finger.

It was pathetic. He was pathetic.

So Kate cut him off.

“-it worked, didn’t it?” Kate sneered at him, feeling a wave of hostility at being challenged. “Besides. You were welcome to use your own potion when you were the one to injure yourself. And your little owie wasn’t even that bad.”

Janet coughed. “As interesting as this spat is, I do have a question for my niece.”

Kate winced and tried to avoid Janet’s eyes, instead watching the creature begin to heal. The blistered flesh oozed heartily, dripping yellow puss out and down onto the ground. It must have been getting squeezed out, Kate thought. She was glad the elixir had worked, since it had cost quite a bit.

…Which must have been the same thing Janet was thinking.

“How did you afford the elixir?” Janet asked.

“Does it matter, Lieutenant?” the caravan master asked, sounding both hesitant and curious. He seemed like he would have wanted to ask a different question. Like maybe, ‘do you have much left in the way of spending capital?’

“This does not concern you, merchant.” Janet’s voice had gravel mixed in. “But it does matter. It matters if Lady Guardson used my or her mother’s budget.”

“Yeah, but no,” Kate answered, somewhat relieved that the conversation was moving away from that. “It was with my own funds. Nothing taken from the knights.”

“Uh-huh.” Janet crossed her arms and looked up at Kate with incredulousness. “And how’d you manage to afford that?”

Kate grimaced, already expecting the response, but she decided she might as well just come out and say it. Cowardice never suited her particularly well.

“Prize money,” Kate answered bluntly.

“What?!” Janet shouted. “When? Where? Don’t tell me it was–”

Charson spoke over the top of Janet. “Lieutenant. Lady Guardson. Look.” He pointed at the creature. The hole in the creature’s shoulder was finishing sealing. Charson handed a handkerchief to Kate. “If you would?”

Kate looked at the silk cloth for a moment in confusion. Charson mimed a rubbing motion. Kate got it. She cleaned off the site of the wound from the brackish pus that had been ejected. The fur was a bit discolored, but the skin underneath looked pure and mostly unblemished.

“Amazing,” Charson said. “That elixir should not have worked. But it did. I must know why.”

Charson nearly pushed Kate aside as he reached in with a sharp looking tool that he had seemingly procured from nowhere. Naturally, Kate protested.

“Hey!”

“A simple probe,” Charson said. “No reason for alarm.”

“No,” Kate flew back with. “I think there’s plenty of reason for alarm. What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Simply determining how this creature has regenerated so quickly,” Charson said absentmindedly as he pressed a thick needle into the healed area. “And taking a biopsy for later.”

“That’s–you’re–ugh.” Kate wanted to protest further, but she bit down on her tongue instead. She knew it would not end well if she did. It was not as if she, Ser Kate Guardson, would argue against learning more about a potential curiosity, especially not when it came so cheaply. Except… there was another angle she could pursue. “Don’t damage somebody else’s property.”

“This is hardly permanently damaging,” Charson answered smoothly, all the while pulling another tool from his belt. This one was disturbingly hooked, with some manner of sensor at the tip.

“Odd,” Warson said, looking at Kate apprehensively.

“What?” Kate asked.

He shook his head slowly, “I would have expected you to be eagerly scouting for fights. And not mothering this creature.”

“He’s got a point,” Janet said. “You sure you’re feeling alright? Did the creature do something?”

“She was in a bad way when I found her,” Kate said. “So I doubt it.”

“Walk me through what happened…” Janet said.

While Kate talked, Warson continued standing guard over the kunbeor while Kate walked Janet through an abridged version of the night’s events. Meanwhile, Gregory was talking shop with Charson, and the caravan master was ordering drivers about to make ready in case of an assault. Apparently the first order of business, if attacked, would be to secure the cargo.

In the end, Janet looked dubious. She said that she hated that there was an unknown entity operating in the vicinity, and that the caravan now had a responsibility to hold a potential threat. A potentially very expensive threat. Fortunately Janet had moved on from the idea of simply executing the creature. Especially after Kate had spent her silver ranked elixir.

“...we need to have its marks appraised,” Janet concluded. “We have no way of knowing what it’s capable of, or what it might have done to you, even while supposedly unconscious.”

“Right,” Kate said with a nod. “So, we’re keeping her right? Since we’ll need to have her assessed later and all…” she added weakly, as she noticed Janet staring at her with a dumbfounded expression.

“About that, Lady Guardson,” the caravan master said, having apparently been waiting for just that opportunity. He had a folder of papers in hand, which he gesticulated with. “Salvage rights belong to the caravan on this journey. If the property goes unclaimed after we make notice of discovering it, I think by sixty days at the nearest provost in Bath, then by the Crown’s law, and by the contracts you signed, the kunbeor would belong to me.”

Kate’s face felt numb for a fraction of a second, but she managed to bluster through her discomfort. “Yeah, but that’s only if she goes unclaimed. And looking at those marks? Her owners have to be searching high and low for her. Or their next of kin, if they were ambushed.”

“We still need to interrogate it to find out who attacked it,” Janet pointed out.

“The subject is currently recovering and is unable to respond,” Charson said.

“How long until it wakes up?” Warson asked.

Charson shrugged helplessly. “I have insufficient knowledge to determine that.”

“Perfect,” Janet said in a deadpan. “Just perfect.”

“What are we going to do with her until then?” Kate asked, already thinking of how the creature would look cleaned up, and wondering if she could start to see what sort of training it had been given. Since the kunbeor clearly came from a place of wealth, there was really no telling what all the kunbeor had been taught.

“We are transporting several others of its ilk,” the caravan master pointed out. “Simply put her with them.”

Kate scowled. “Put her… with them? It’s a night and day difference.”

“But the asset would be secured there,” Warson said. “And I still find your aberrant behavior dubious.”

Kate scowled even harder.

Janet clapped her hands. “Right! Night’s not getting any younger. Warson! Get it stripped and locked down with the others. Work with the caravan master if you run into any sorta difficulties.”

“I can do it!” Kate volunteered.

Janet paused and exchanged a wary look with Warson. “Really?” Janet asked.

“Yeah,” Kate said quickly. “I feel responsible, since I found her and all.”

“Alright…” Janet said slowly. “But Warson will stick around nearby, just in case.”

“Won’t be necessary, but thanks,” Kate said.

Stillson went to leave, and Charson intercepted the caravan master to speak in hushed tones on the other side of the campfire. Gregory stuck around, and Kate got to processing the creature.

Which in this case, meant that Kate began prying the rest of the kunbeor’s clothing off. The strange tunic was simply cut off. It had been worn by the creature’s travailles, and scarcely concealed anything anyways. It was nothing incredible, except for the strange lilac colored fur, and the lushness of it, despite the travel stains.

Still, Kate disliked that Gregory and Warson were there as well. A portion of Kate wanted the creature all for herself. But she supposed her options in this case were limited. It was either Kate stripping the kunbeor as they watched, or Kate let Warson do it all on his own. And the thought of Warson with his grubby hands all over the kunbeor left Kate feeling slightly ill.

As Kate went, she took an unofficial inventory of the kunbeor’s possessions, starting with the knife. It was unique. A make that Kate was not personally familiar with. Which was strange, since Kate was familiar with most sorts of knives. It was curious.

As Kate worked, Gregory butted in.

“What are you doing?” Gregory asked, sounding miffed. “Why’re you stripping it?”

Kate thought he was probably still jealous over the healing potions. But Kate could hardly be blamed for his fragility. So she decided to ignore him, focusing on the girl instead.

It was Warson that took time to answer.

“We’re doing this for several reasons. One, we must ensure the creature does not have any contraband that could defeat its containment.”

Speaking of those types of devices, Kate had already found the lockpicks in the creature’s jacket, though Kate had avoided bringing that up. But given how well they were made, Kate would not be surprised if the kunbeor had been trained in subterfuge and thievery. Whoever her masters–previous masters–were, Kate thought they must have been interesting.

Warson continued explaining, “Two, the creature’s fur is sufficient, and training it to rely on clothes wrecks its robustness. And three, none of the others are currently wearing any. It might brew dissent and lead to a violent situation amongst its peers.”

Kate slipped the creature’s pants down and Kate’s breath hitched. It was amazing just how human-like it seemed in that regard, even with the velvet soft fur and great fluffy tail.

Warson cleared his throat.

Kate’s cheeks burned. She realized she had stopped part way, with the pants around the knees, and Kate finished, before picking the kunbeor up. “Right, so where are we putting her?” Kate asked. She already knew, but she had hoped the answer might have changed. That she might have been able to keep the creature for a night or two. Unfortunately, the answer remained the same.

“With the rest,” Warson said with a sigh.

“Right.” Kate grimaced. Still, that was in line with what she had been expecting. She made her way over to the special transport wagon that Warson had been referring to. And of course, Gregory followed along like the follower that he was.

The wagon had a solid wooden roof to keep the elements out, and bars around the rest of it. It was large enough to contain quite a bit, but instead it had been limited to a cargo of three, at least on this trip. The floor was littered with straw and worse, and it stank of musk and urine.

There were three kunnies already in there. Siblings, allegedly, from the same litter. They were likely destined for the arena in Bath, but maybe not. Kate thought it was a waste to ship fighters all the way up when there were so many others ready to fight in any large city. But whatever.

Warson verified that all the collars were connected to chains, and then unlocked the back gate with a borrowed key.

“Slide it in there,” he nodded.

Kate ignored the looks for the kunnies as she set the kunbeor down as gently as she could on the filthy floor and pushed her in, until she was within range of the others. Kate exchanged a glare with one of the cats.

“If you hurt her, I’ll take it out of your hide,” Kate threatened.

The cat chuffed. “This one is not the one who should cause worry…” The cat crouched forward as far as the chain would allow, and she looked over the girl with an increasingly bewildered expression. The cat added, “grom where is this kitten brought?”

“I was hoping you would know,” Warson said, before shaking himself. “No matter. Call out immediately if she awakes. There will be extra jerky for you if you do so.”

“Of course,” the cat said in a tone that left Kate’s skin crawling.

As Kate left, she kept within earshot. She needed to figure out a way to secure the girl as her own. And how would she explain it to her mom when she brought a pet home…