Sai raised an eyebrow as the bottom of the moving carriage suddenly opened and a woman flipped up and into it.
She instantly dispatched the two guards riding with him, slamming their heads together before landing on the seat between the now slack figures.
Her orange eyes flicked around, and to his chains, before she spoke with a pout, "Ya a'got'in be kiddin' me. Ya a prisoner? Fuck'in sake. Where be da gold?"
He considered the kitsune in front of him, and smiled slowly, "You remind me of someone else I know. She has a poor grasp of rules, as well. Might I ask how you managed to survive the purge?"
"Purge'in bein' for da lords and da ladies." The woman rolled her eyes, which was when Sai noticed that she didn't have just one fluffy tail. She had... Several.
He wasn't entirely well versed on the exotic species, but from what he knew, each additional tail appeared after something close to a hundred years.
Whatever was in front of him might appear to be a young woman, barely in her twenties, but she was older than he was. Older, fiercer, and likely with substantial magical abilities.
"You're interested in gold?" He asked her cautiously.
She smirked, showing her teeth, "Ya be a prisoner. What ya be doin' aboot gold?"
"A lord, and a prisoner. Hence the carriage." He replied simply, "I am, in point of fact, about to be released. Sent to fight a war, to repay me for killing someone. You strike me as a... Survivor. Useful, in the right contexts."
She snorted, "I ain't be workin' for ya. I be takin' ya gold or life. Dat's how dis works."
"No." His eyes glowed a bright green, "It really isn't."
Her eyes became frightened, and she tried to scoot further back in her seat, "Da fuckin' fuck! How be a human wid da magic? Fuck! Ya one of dem murderin' bastards! Army monsters."
"Yes. I am quite the abomination." He agreed.
His head hit the wall of the carriage as she leapt towards him, placing a knife to his throat and snarling, "Speak, and ya be dead."
He rolled his eyes.
He had no need to speak to cast magic. That was something that was needed for other species, but not for a human. The rare ones that gained magic were all capable of shadow casting.
The kitsune sniffed him uncertainly, and then broke into a wide smile. "I be recognizin' ya scent. Ya were on the maid, sorta faded. Master of the cat?"
"Toofy." His face split into a huge grin, "You know my mistress?"
"Nah. But she be knowin' of me." The kitsune replied with a smirk, and then licked his cheek. Her tongue was long, smooth but rougher than human, and dripping wet. "Try be explainin' dat to her."
With that, the woman vanished back through the floor.
He was tempted to go after her. A kitsune, especially one as flexible and stealthy as that one, would be a definite boon to him with the task he was expected to undertake.
However... It concerned him that she seemed to intentionally trying to piss Toofy off.
What was between them?
How was it that Toofy was aware of the kitsune, but the two didn't actually know each other?
Sai was almost certain that the magical surge he had felt during the trial had been created by his little neko. He was quite worried about her, and what she may have had to do to keep Lord Castelle alive.
She didn't have the instinct to stop and pull back when approaching something dangerous or forbidden. She did whatever she needed to, if it would accomplish her goals.
Without Sai there to caution her, he wasn't certain that she was even capable of stopping herself.
He needed to follow the letter of his instructions, or life would get more difficult for Toofy. Things were already going to be hard enough for his mistress, without him further inconveniencing her.
He wiped the slobber from his cheek onto his sleeve, and tried to put the oddity out of his mind.
He was soon to be heading to a losing battle, and must succeed.
The kitsune may have been helpful, but that was merely a passing coincidence. He had others he could make use of to turn this around.
He would make the orcs remember the name of Thunderstep.
---
"Lady Twenty Four?" Xivian asked cautiously, entering the room with a small bowl of liquid.
Toofy snarled angrily from where she had curled up in Arina's lap. The prone handmaiden lying in the bed, propped up on pillows but as silent and still as ever.
The half-elf swallowed nervously, "Lady Castelle sent me with medicine. It is supposed to help ease one from nightmares. She thought that it might -"
"Get the fuck out before Toofy eats you!" She yelled, claws extending and scratching the wood as she grabbed the edge of the bed.
The handmaiden dropped the bowl, and ran crying from the room. It shattered as it hit the floor, porcelain flying in every direction. The clear liquid soaking into the carpet.
Toofy winced, trying to force it back down, before hacking and coughing up a mangled furball onto the ground. A sign of the anxiety that had taken control of the catgirl.
She ripped a tuft of fur out of one her ears, before sobbing and curling to a tighter ball in Arina's lap. Keening and warbling wordlessly, her high pitched yowls echoing around the room.
Her Arina. Her Elia. Her Sai.
Those three were the only people in the entire world that Toofy gave two shits about.
Lady Liz and Xivi had been fun, but they were only a means to an ends. She had tried to make them enjoy the journey, but she had no interest in being comforted by them.
She would kill them without a second thought.
She needed her Arina back. She wanted the quiet woman, the breathless joyful sighs, the self-conflict on enjoying the company of another woman. She wanted Arina's little stumbling denials before she gave in and let Toofy lick her places.
Toofy sobbed, and turned her golden eyes to those that lay shut. She unwrapped her body just enough to lean up and kiss the cold cheek. Sniffling as she whispered, "Please. Just wake up."
The rest of her body shuffled, until it was curled up atop the woman's soft chest, letting Toofy wrap her arms around her head as she kicked her boots off and onto the floor. Rubbing her face into Arina's hair, breathing in her scent.
It smelled like her.
There was no scent of horror or pain. A brief and irritating smell of fox, but no reason that Arina should not be awake.
