Exiled.
Free.
Wandering out in this vast and wonderful world with out purpose or reason.
The Quiet raised his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun that beat down on him. In all those songs and fairy tales, they all ways tell you to reach for the sky, but for some it's just too bright. It's much easier to cover your eyes and and hide in the shade.
The light always exposed every flaw, every weakness. The Quiet was more accustomed to the darkness, where he was hidden away for most of his life. The darkness did not judge or look down on you. It embraced all as equals, covering up everything that made people different under it's veil of shadows.
Quiet realized his horn was in plain sight, and moved his arm to cover it in case anyone walked by. He tried to make it look like he was just shielding his eyes from the sun, but it looked unnatural. He tried to hide his yellow eye as well, coming his long bangs to fall over the right side of his face. He walked down the road, anxiously even though he had no particular destination in mind. He really had no idea of the outside world, or of any place that would accept an outcast like him.
The only thing he could do was move forward.
The skinny grey fox arched her back under the sunlight, flexing her paws and curling her bushy tail. Energy danced through her body. She wanted to rush through the lush fields just for the purpose of running and releasing that energy.
The Meeting Place was an area Selene came across often, and the reason for her unusually brilliant and content mood. As an aimless wanderer she walked many roads and had come here by accident more times than she could count. Eventually, she learned of the deep-rooted spirits here that protected those passing through from violence—and in the nick of time. A man fed up with the burden of the freeloading kitsune had decided that he should get at least a fox stole as payment. However, he hadn't lasted long with his long knife drawn, and so she had realized that she didn't have to worry about predators or bored, sword-toting warriors.
The vixen was free here.
Selene trotted across the road leading from Adela and sniffed the air to see if any other travelers had recently crossed here. However, the simple smell she came across—that of a young human laden with the light odor of travel—did not match the sight that met her eyes.
The boy was small and didn't look entirely healthy, or perhaps it was just that his skin looked so pale against the dreary black cloth he wore. His arm was thrown over his face at an awkward angle, reminding her of a teenage suitor who'd tried his damndest to hide a blemish from her.
Selene's eyes narrowed suspiciously. She shifted shape and set on following him, looking for all intents and purposes a young, silvery-haired woman. Her shadow, however, was that of a skulking fox.
"What's up with you, kid?" she called, masking her innocent curiosity with faint antagonism. "Sunlight hurt that bad? You look like you don't get any as it is."
The Quiet was shocked by the sudden voice that cut through the silence.
He turned to the voice, with an annoyed look that either he couldn't hide or more likely, he didn't try to hide. He stopped for a moment, looking at the woman square in the eyes, but said nothing. The question was a bit redundant, since she had answered the reason why with in her own sentence. That along with his own anti-social tendencies, prompted his silence.
Of course these tendencies truly were working against him. Him a young child and exile, with nary an ally to rely on, wasn't going to be making friends anytime soon like this.
After a brief pause, he turned away from her and continued walking at his slow dreary pace.
The boy turned to glare at her, which she had expected. What she had not expected was the odd flash of his eyes. The shadow thrown on his face from his bangs made her unsure, but they looked like different colors. She angled her head slightly to get a better look, but then...
Then he turned around and kept walking!
"The hell?" Selene spat. She didn't bother censoring herself; in her frustration, her tongue was loose and the kid in front of her seemed like someone much older—or old enough to dish out rudeness and deserve her curses, anyway. "You can't just up and walk off!"
Well, she guessed he could. That was probably a huge hint for, "leave me the hell alone," but a vocal creature such as Selene hadn't expected it to come in body language instead of words. She fumed, inhaled, composed herself, and followed him at a brisk pace, so that she stepped beside him.
"Didn't your parents teach you manners?"
He looked to her from the corner of his eye, with out stopping or even turning to face her. He still kept his arm up, but from this close and at this angle, it'd be hard to miss the tiny little horn on his forehead.
He could have answered her with a justified 'no'.
He could have complained about how he was mistreated.
He could have cried about how he was abused.
He could have explained that he was a magical freak who was hidden away in a dark and dreary cell for most of his childhood, and then finally thrown aside as soon as he looked to be old enough to stand a chance of survival on his own.
But anything he could say, would only be just words.
After another short glare, he simply looked forward and trying his hardest to ignore her. Although it was getting a little hard to. She was the first woman he had met aside from his mother and those women in the angry mob that were demanding he be hung. Not only that, she was beautiful, aside from being a bit thin and pale, not that he could complain about that. Technically speaking she was way too old for him, but young boys never thought about that.
She was a bit loud for his tastes, although that wasn't really a fair assessment. Compared to The Quiet, who wasn't loud?
He thought about how he was probably too young to start thinking about whether he liked someone, and how it was probably best he just continue to hate her. Truth was, he was nervous, to have a woman speak to him. It wasn't just pure irritation. However, that did not mean he wasn't annoyed by her.
Whether he liked her or not, he remained stubbornly determined to try and ignore her.
Silence.
Selene growled under her breath as she walked; her shadow, betraying her species, had flattened ears and an aggressively wagging tail. She could forgive the first incidence, but now he was trying to get on her nerves. She narrowed her eyes and met his glare, then fixed her attention on a small bump on his head. When she looked again, he had already turned and focused elsewhere.
How curious.
"Listen, kid—or can you listen?" She frowned. "Are you deaf? Or just dumb?"
Didn't mute people have those hand signal things? She'd never understood the intricate, quick gestures used to communicate. She could pretend so, just so he could sign to her and she'd know if this guy was physically incapable of speaking.
If not, then she was about to get mad.
Quiet began to speed up walking, and put himself a few steps ahead of her. That was his answer to her questioning. The sun seemed annoyingly brighter that instant, and Quiet gave up shielding himself from it or hiding his horn. He put his hands in his pockets and continued walking at his slightly brisk pace. He had not noticed her shadow, as he was trying not to look at her and overall deny her existence.
The heat, the bright sun, how nervous a woman made him, it was all building up getting to him. He was like a time bomb ready to explode. Her voice grated against his ears, and if he heard it again he didn't know what he'd do. Though, there wasn't really much he could do to escape it.
The scrawny boy walked faster—as if that was going to make her go away. He seemed tense and frustrated with her presence, and it was obvious that she was distressing him with her constant questioning.
Any decent, kind-hearted person would have left him alone after that, but not Selene. She wasn't nice.
No, the fox played with her food. For up to an hour. Leaving it bleeding and too disoriented to know which way to run.
Cruelly, she quickened her pace as well and then stepped in front of him. He was only a boy, after all, a little mouse. Her pupils narrowed slightly, and she put her hands on her hips. "Come on, kid. Do something other than run away from me."
The sun would not have been so annoying, if it were a constant shine, but the foliage of the trees Quiet was walking by blocked out the sun's direct path, then it would peak through to blind him, be blocked again, shine through, over and over. No matter where he walked, the uneven coverage seemed designed to annoy him.
This was partly the reason why he didn't notice her at first. The other reason was that he was intent on ignoring her existence, as mentioned before. So as she stepped out in front of him, he noticed too late. Unless she would move at the last second, he would have walked straight into her. In his rushed, flustered effort to stop, he tripped himself up, falling forward and as the usual natural reaction to this situation, he thrust his hands forward trying to grab onto something to catch himself as he fell.
"Ufff!"
The kid, not registering the fact that she was in front of him, staggered into her after a vain attempt at halting. She could feel his hands groping for something to hold himself up, tugging on her shirt. While he was a pretty small boy and would be a featherweight compared to any normal person, to the undersized woman, it was enough to knock her off balance.
She conjured a wind, blowing hard and fast enough to save her from falling on her butt, before her foot found the steady ground. Her arms weakly supported the odd-eyed boy, one looped under his armpit and the other latched onto his opposite shoulder.
"Well, then." She smirked, but though her expression and voice were mocking, they had both softened slightly from her earlier aggression. "Hello."
A moment later, Selene shoved him off. It was a fairly light push which, unless he had some major issue with his inner ear, would not cause him to fall. "Please don't tell me you're going to just walk off again," she growled, taking another step back to increase the distance.
The Quiet was caught by the woman, but by the time he had regained his balance the damage was done. His yellow eye had been exposed, when he was falling and he was now in her debt for catching him. On top of it all, this was the first time he was this close to a woman, and he couldn't help but notice the distinct touch of a woman. Soft, gentle, yet firm enough to represent this other person's will.
He felt nervousness, shame and embarrassment well up in side of him, but he would not be just another fool to play into this act. He wouldn't cry out stuttering, or end up starring mouth a gape. He couldn't hide his surprise and embarrassment while he was falling, but he collected himself before she spoke the word 'hello'.
His expression had returned to it's usual scowl, as he looked up to her in silence. The only difference was that he was blushing, which with his pale skin, was very obvious. He couldn't control such a thing, no matter how composed he tried to be, but his hands had already let go of anything he might have grabbed onto. He didn't even bother to see, or feel, where he had grabbed onto, since he understood that the answer could only have been bad or worse.
He was gently pushed off soon after a short pause, he stepped away with it. It was more like he was guided away, rather than pushed. He couldn't deny that he was slightly disappointed, but he'd never admit it. Not even to himself.
After being pushed off, he closed his eyes and straightened out his shirt with his hands. Though after he was done, it still looked disheveled and unkempt. He then looked her into the eyes, with his usual unsociable contempt.
When she mentioned 'walking off again,' that was exactly what he had wanted to do. He didn't owe her an apology or anything else, it was her fault he had embarrassed himself after all. She was the one who jumped out in front of him like a crazy person, but for some reason he didn't do that just yet. Something about her... she had definitely made an impression on him, but for what purpose?
He closed his eyes again, and let out an exasperated sigh. What did she want from him? What ever it was, he was determined not to give it to her, but he would at least listen to her.
When he opened his eyes, he looked her straight in the eyes again, to prevent his eyes from wandering. He then threw out his arms to the sides in the universal 'what' gesture.
The boy did in fact have a horn and slightly weird eyes; it was easy to tell from such a close proximity. While she'd seen all sorts of species with unusual attributes such as these, they seemed freaky and out of place on the kid's face.
He offered no resistance to her shove and moved more of his own accord. While he tried to collect himself, frowning pointedly at her, his face had gone bright red. Apparently, someone wasn't used to close contact—but anyone would be blushing after making idiots out of themselves like he had done. Personally, Selene would have bitten whoever she fell on, and she was glad he didn't. Blushing and making things awkward were preferable to punching.
The silent kid fixed his clothing and stared at her, fixing her in that odd bi-colored gaze for another few moments, and then sighed as if she was irritating him. When he opened his eyes again, he tossed his arms up as if to ask her what the hell he wanted.
Selene was taken aback and instantly scowled at the challenging stare he gave her. Finally, she crossed her arms and stared down at him (with relish, as it was hard to find anyone shorter than she was at her meager five feet tall).
"What?" she responded, with the same attitude as his gesture. "Are you still not going to say anything? I know you're just doing this to get on my nerves, kid. I don't know if you were born into a normal society, but people tend to speak and not ignore other people. So what's up with you?"
The Quiet cocked his head to a side, slightly as he listened to her.
After it seemed like she was finished, he was overall underwhelmed. That was all she had to say? How boring. How annoying.
He looked away sharply, and let out a loud "Che," sound he made by sucking his teeth. Apparently in normal society it was common to just run up to people and start harassing them. If that were the case, normal society was not the place for The Quiet.
"Well, I guess you can hear," Selene snapped when he cocked his head at her.
When he turned and made a frustrated sound, she growled under her breath and tried to burn holes into the back of his head with her eyes. No such luck.
And then the fury left her as quickly as it had come on.
There was something in that small noise, and she suddenly looked at his scrawny shoulders with sympathy rather than frustration. The change seemed to click quickly in her mind, though outwardly she shifted slowly into a less aggressive posture and frowned.
"...Can you talk?"
With some great stretch of the imagination, she might sound upset. Compared to the sharp edge of her angered voice, it was gentle and questioning. Curiosity sparked in her olive eyes as she looked at that horn, tried to meet that odd gaze.
"Why are you alone?"
She frowned harder, this time at herself. Why did she care?
Right. He reminded her of her brother.
Quiet did pick up on her change in attitude and responded with a change of his own. He suddenly felt guilty about the cold soldier he had given her. It was easier to be lonely than happy. He wished she would just leave him alone, but at the same time he was thankful she didn't. Though he wouldn't admit that either.
When she asked if he could speak, he nodded up and down once decisively. He could speak, he just choose not to.
When she asked why was he alone, he raised his right hand to his horn and flicked it, but as soon as he had, he wondered why he had given her such an answer.
Ambiguous as it may have been, for him it was more of an answer than what he usually gave. His usual answer being, nothing. After flicking his horn, he put his hands in his pockets and looked away to the left. This was his usual standing posture, when he was nervous. He stood this way almost subconsciously, with his horned side was away from the people in front of him.
The silent kid's demeanor changed instantly, and he became much more agreeable. Most people would regret having yelled at the little guy, but remorse never once crossed Selene's mind, and she only smiled as if she'd done something clever.
It was a step backwards for her when she found out he could talk. Her fist clenched, and she shook her head slowly before asking in a restrained growl, "Then why don't you? Some religious vow of silence or something like that? It's bullshit."
Oops. Mocking others' religious views meant getting punched, which meant something would get broken. She stepped back just in case and coughed.
"So, your horn, huh?" She frowned and cocked her head, attempting to sort this out as the reason he wasn't with anyone else. It wasn't that hard to figure out, at least. Pointing to an abnormality could mean a couple of things. "Is that some contagious disease where you would rather exile yourself than risk spreading it to your village? Or are you cast out as a freak?" She didn't mean the word freak harshly, and her voice softened sympathetically as she said it.
When asked why, he didn't know how to respond. No, he knew why, he just didn't know have a gesture to explain it.
When she asked if it was a religious vow, he raised up his palms and shook his head no.
She kept asking questions. What answer did she expect to hear? He didn't exactly stop to ask the villagers for their specific reasoning behind hanging his mother and exiling him.
He rolled his eyes at these questions, but to answer them he shrugged as if to say 'don't know', but it could easily be read as 'don't care.'
Afterward, he glared at her again, but he waited for her encase she wanted to say more. Hopefully it would be less annoying. He was kinda curious why she was asking, but he wouldn't say it. He wouldn't say anything unless it had meaning. There's just no point, otherwise.
His parents would always ask him why he didn't speak, but what really confused him was why did everyone say all these pointless things. Like those questions she was asking. Like he knew. Like finding out the answers would change her life for the better somehow.
She wanted to know why he didn't speak.
He wanted to know why she was still talking.
ooc; I'm really, really sorry for taking so long to get to this reply. I've had finals earlier this week, and band commitments to deal with the rest. I probably won't be able to respond again until Monday, but I promise I'll try, and I'll be more active in the future once I've gotten into the rhythm of things.
[hr:10s5g9ik][/hr:10s5g9ik]
Talking to this boy seemed like a lost cause, but her cursed stubbornness prevented her from giving up and walking away. He was an enigma she wanted to figure out—and, damn it, she would! At least some small insight into his motivations would be gained before they parted ways.
The kitsune scowled harder, her mood falling again from its earlier kindness. She knew now that it wasn't religious, so it had to either be a speech problem or personal choice; they had ruled out total inability to talk with his earlier nodding. He looked irritated at all her questions, shrugging and glaring to get the point across that he didn't want to hear her jabbering. However, he didn't run away. Did that mean he didn't really care, or that he thought she'd catch up with him too quickly?
"My name is Selene," she said, catching herself by surprise. It was another step toward politeness, right? "Not that I think you'd care. Do you have a name, or should I just keep calling you kid? Would you rather me call you nothing?"
She looked around at the sacred grounds, the grass and trees, the sunlight beaming down through the gaps in the leaves. "Do you have any idea where you want to go?"
ooc- Don't worry, I haven't been able to get on as well. I have a faulty power charger that means I can't charge my laptop. I might be able to come on my father's laptop more often in the future though. When my power cord is replaced I'll be able to return to my usual activity.
The Quiet was surprised to hear the woman's name. He would remember it, even if he never spoke it aloud. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out something he had been given before he was on his own. It was a stack of small paper cards. Small rectangles, with nothing written on it except, 'The Quiet', sqaure in the middle of the front of the card.
He had been given the cards as a small single kind gesture in an otherwise horrid life. He didn't know why they gave it to him. It might have been his birthday, it might be because his parents were trying to make it so they could send him away, all the more faster. It might have been meant as a cruel joke, but whatever it was he found it useful.
He offered one of his cards to the girl. It was his way of introducing himself, and it was the first time he was able to do it.
He extended the card towards her, offering it to her, but when she asked him another question he responded by nodding from left to right once. He didn't have any particular destination. Would she offer him one? He wondered if he'd refuse. Should he? He had no reason not to, but at the same reason, to go with her.
The boy's hand went into his pocket, and Selene tensed though she knew no weapon could be drawn for long in the sacred place. However, he took out a small deck of cards. She was intrigued; her shadow leaned forward, ears perked, nose twitching, while in her odd-pupiled eyes grew wide with great interest. When he offered her the card, she took it eagerly and stared at the neat writing in the center of the card.
"You're ... 'The Quiet.' Cute."
Her voice was sarcastic and her lips quirked in a demeaning smirk, but there was gratefulness in her expression. He did have a name. These were the only two clear words he'd given her. She smiled slightly at him and, after some hesitation, slipped the card into her own pocket. It might serve as an irritating reminder of their encounter later, or proof if she chose to tell his story. Not that there was much of a story to tell.
"You don't know where you're going either?" Selene asked, more repeated, with yet another annoying twitch of her mouth. She looked around and shrugged, continuing to walk a few steps. When she paused, she peered over her shoulder at him. "Well... I was just headed in a random direction until I saw you so..." She cut off her meaningless words and focused on what her point would be. "Would you like to travel with me until we find somewhere to eat and rest? Or would you prefer I leave you the hell alone and go back the other way?"
Neither decision would bother her. She had met him and she'd gained a token from him. Either she could stay and continue to play with the puzzle of his wordlessness, or she'd hightail it out of the Meeting Place with nothing but his name in her pocket and a brief tale to tell.
Quiet hadn't been called Cute before, but it didn't make him particularly happy. It didn't hurt his pride, but he judged from her tone that she was teasing him if only a little bit. He felt his timid side begin to take over, now that he was acquainted with this person. He cast his eyes downwards to the ground, nervously. His eyes widened at the sight of her shadow, which seemed odd. What first caught his eye was that it moved differently than she did. Upon closer inspection, the shadow seemed to be more like that of a small animal's shadow, rather than a full grown woman's.
He looked back up to her, as if to double check if she was still there, then back to the shadow. It was odd to him, and he subconsciously began to think up many questions, but when he was deciding what to ask, he relented all of them. Whatever the answer, whatever amazing story, it'd make no difference to him. He couldn't, or rather he wouldn't use the information even if she gave it up. So why ask?
Altogether he let it go, especially when his thoughts were interrupted by what she asked next. At first he didn't know if he wanted to go with her, but when she mentioned food he was reminded how hungry he was. His stomach was still quiet, like he was, but he was almost constantly wracked with hunger pains.
He nodded yes to her, reluctantly. Then he took a few steps closer, behind her.
The silent kid finally noticed her shadow, which wasn't a surprise considering she hadn't been attempting to hide it. She smirked and flaunted her tail so that the shadow danced in front of his bewildered eyes. "I'm a kitsune," she said offhandedly. It didn't really matter if he knew what it meant or not; it was an answer to a question she was sure he wouldn't bother asking. And the fact that she wasn't human didn't matter now either, unless he had some personal vendetta against animal spirits.
Selene had to admit that she was shocked when he indicated he would join her. She smiled uneasily and set off, walking with purpose in a direction she chose at random. "Would the guardians of this place allow me to hunt?" she wondered aloud. Where was the line drawn between violence and necessary poaching? She, a glorified fox, had been saved from a man's knife before. Would a rabbit be spared too, from the weapons of her teeth?
It was worth a shot. Her stomach uttered a low groan, which was always the precursor to agonizing clenching.
Mouse! As if her prayers had been answered, the rodent darted across their path. She barely glanced over her shoulder at the boy before leaping upon it, discarding her human shape mid-jump. Her forepaws caught the mouse as her teeth descended on it in the next instant, breaking its neck.
Selene froze, olive eyes flicking quickly around, expecting some huge fire to explode out of nowhere and smite her. When it didn't, she lifted her head and looked at the boy to gauge his reaction.
Quiet cocked his head to the side inquisitively, when she answered the question he never asked. He understood the word to mean fox, and it was clear from the context clues that she meant it as spirit fox, or magic fox, or something to that nature. Unless it was common place for animals to masquerade as humans. What confused him is when they bumped into each other. He thought he felt her, but did he really? Or was that part of the illusion?
Of course with out actually asking these questions out loud, it'd be hard pressed for her to answer these. Them not being as obvious as the first. Even if he did ask, she wasn't obligated to answer, after all he had ignored many of her questions.
It goes without saying, for someone who hated being asked questions, he would not ask her anyway.
He simply followed her, until she stopped for a second, then suddenly darted off and pounced onto a mouse.
Well she was a fox, and a fox almost as beautiful as she was in her human form. He looked to surprise at the ease and speed of her transformation as well as her successful hunt. He jogged over to her as she looked around, energetically. He didn't understand why she was so alert, but there was something about tiny animals were just so cute.
He crouched down next to her. He wasn't sure, but he had read in some books, one of the few luxuries he was afforded, that when animals hunted the pack leader would get to feed first, while the others waited. Then when the leader was full, the others would have their go. He didn't fancy himself an alpha male. He was more of a cub. So in his mind she had authority, and so he sat there next to her patiently waiting to be offered his turn.
The novelty of it all had already worn off, so his expression returned to it's usual stoic gaze. A bit softer than the scowl he was giving off before. It goes without saying, that the starving child was not picky about eating a mouse. Leftovers, no less.
The Quiet walked toward her, and she swished her tail in the grass. She ignored him at first, not feeling like gloating in case the transformation stunned him, focused instead on eating what she could. The mouse was torn into scraps and gone in a few seconds; she'd swallow it whole if she could. The bones lay in a pile at her feet, and she glanced up at him with sudden realization and guilt. Her ears drooped.
"If you don't mind eating something raw, or if you can somehow make fire to cook..." She cocked her head; her voice easily projected across the species gap. "I'll catch you something. Hopefully something bigger."
Without waiting for an answer, Selene dove back into the grass again and sniffed the air. Would a rabbit be stupid enough to come out now? She sighed and continued stalking the path. "Sorry, kiddo. You should've—" What? Said something? "Do you have any special magic that might help me find a snack for you? Or any magic? Are you all looks and no skills?" She flicked her ears at him in what she hoped look like a friendly way.
The Quiet watched quietly as Selene ate the mouse. It was pretty small, so it didn't surprise him when she ate it all. He imagined this must have happened in the wild he figured.
He nodded to her, when she told him of her plans. He was thankful since he couldn't hunt on his own, though he didn't know how to start a fire.
He stood up and followed her at a distance, so he wouldn't obstruct her hunting. He hurriedly ran to her, when she stopped and said something to him. It was quiet, out there in the wild, so he could hear her easily. When he caught up to her, he crouched down again to meet her at a more comfortable eye level.
She had asked him if he knew magic. He looked upwards and to the left, and began to rub his chin thoughtfully for a moment. He then looked to her abruptly and threw up his index finger to indicate that he had thought of something.
He then shook his hands in front of him, and quickly placed them together. On his right hand, his index finger was wrapped around the base of his thumb. That hand was pressed against his left hand, so that it looked like that thumb was the thumb on the his left from her point of view. His real left thumb was hidden from view. He then began to move the thumb to and from the hand. He performed the corny illusion with his usual stoic stare, looking completely serious.
The boy nodded, so she went ahead with her search. Hopefully a rabbit wasn't too out of the question. If not many animals passed through, then the prey would hopefully be bold enough to investigate. She pricked her ears and listened, continuing this process of walking and checking out her surroundings. Anyone would become bored with watching her, though for the kitsune it was a heavy strain on all of her senses, attempting to keep alert and ready.
The Quiet crouched in front of her when she called to him and considered her question. The great show of gestures and expressions amused her, while he attempted to make up for his lack of speaking with the silent body language.
He put his hands together, and the small grey fox leaned forward in interest. When his thumb "popped" off and reattached, she flicked her ears and stared blankly. Inwardly, she battled between snapping at him for being foolish and trying to be nice since he was only a kid—and when she looked up at his serious face, her frustration shattered into amusement.
"That's a cute trick," she managed to tell him while laughing; as an animal, she could only show her pleasure through smiling, parted jaws, slightly more composed than a dog. "Why don't you throw your thumb over there and hope a bird's lured by it?" She nudged his leg with her head and rushed out into the grass again, praying for something to show up.
All too conveniently, a rabbit made its appearance. It had never seen a fox before, she could tell from its interested posture and erect ears. It was used to human travelers as she'd hoped, and not small beasts set on eating it. That was probably why she'd found another prey animal so soon. "Stay back, kid," she whispered quickly before creeping forward.
Selene spilled onto her side with a great flop of her long, bushy tail. Her legs thrashed outward once as she rolled in the grass; the rabbit looked on with a rapidly twitching nose and wide eyes. Her kittish antics had purpose, however; she'd watched other foxes hunt with methods like this, called charming, to captivate the prey so that they'd get within chasing distance. Sure enough, the rabbit inched forward, confused at the furry grey thing flopping around, and the fox lunged.
"Do with this what you will," Selene muttered around the fur of her quarry. She dragged it with difficulty toward the boy, dropping it at his feet and panting. It hadn't been a difficult hunt, but the rabbit was fairly large compared to her small frame. "We can wait here if you need to make a fire or something, or we can keep going and—ugh. This would be so much easier if you were a fox."
The Quiet continued to look to Selene with his blank look as she laughed and prodded him. It's not that he wasn't happy to converse with her, he just wasn't used to it and didn't know what face to make. How could he know what face to make? No one ever told him, and he had never been in this situation before.
He had read a few books, but they never explained the intricate dealings between a boy and a fox. He had never come across the instruction manual that indicates just how you should arch your mouth in response to how you feel. Normally people, and probably foxes too, learned how to do this on their own with instruction, but normally people grew up around other people, not locked up in a dark cage hidden in an also dark basement.
He watched the fox continue on to hunt, not following and staying still to stay out of the way, as he sorted through these new emotions that were boiling over inside him. All the while, his expression remaining detached and seemingly apathetic.
When she brought the rabbit over to him, he was thankful. He expressed this by placing his palms together in front of him, in a praying gesture, and bowing his head to her.
He then patiently listened to her as she laid out out his options, while looking at her square in her cute little eyes.
When she was finished, he reached down calmly, not breaking eye contact, and picked up the rabbit. He bit down on the rabbit, biting into it's flesh and taking a bloody mouthful fur and all. He chewed it slowly at first, but as he got used to it, he began to chew faster. The way he figured it, animals never fussed over their food like man did. It really didn't make sense to him why he should prepare his meals. Again, this was because no one ever explained it to him.
The Quiet bowed his head gratefully to her, and she offered a small, humanlike nod in return. There wasn't really anything else she could do to acknowledge his multitude of silent gestures. Oh well. Reading him was never going to be easy.
When the ravenous boy tore into the rabbit without hesitation, Selene—now in her human shape—stared in shock and surprise. She was used to eating meat raw, obviously, even when she had a distinct lack of fur and fingers, but to see this kid do it was saddening. "When's the last time you ate?" she asked, before realizing this wasn't a yes or no question. He'd probably just answer with a shrug anyway. Sighing, the woman rubbed the back of her neck and took a seat to allow him to finish his meal, which would be hard without fangs. She wondered if he could stomach it.
"Well, let's go," the kitsune offered when he was nearly finished. She turned back to the path and walked in that same randomly chosen direction. "Whenever we find a town, unless for some weird reason you decide otherwise, I'll likely drop you off and keep going." She looked over her shoulder with an uncertain expression. Saying that she was warming up to the boy wasn't exactly true, but she didn't know if he'd be okay by himself after they visited civilization.
Quiet took another bite of the animal, as if he were biting into an apple. An apple that was difficult to chew, and filled his mouth with a myriad of flavors, some gritty and bitter, others so bland they almost made him gag. It wasn't just the taste, the unique combination of textures was all around unpalatable. Some parts were tough and rubbery, while other parts were down right slimy. The fur was a unique experience.
But as far as Quiet was concerned, this was how food, out here in the 'real world'. was supposed to taste. So he simply accepted it, and choked his meal down thankfully.
When he was asked when was the last time he ate, he honestly couldn't remember. It was useless information to him, and since she had already just given him a meal, what could she possibly do with this knowledge? Still she had just fed him, even though she had no obligation to do so. He wanted to at least answer her. He took a bite from a section that he knew would be chewy and reached into his pocket again. He pulled out some leftover berries he was saving for when his throat became parched. He had feasted on the berries he had stumbled upon, not too long before he had met her, but was becoming sick of them.
The berries were still mostly fresh, and they were food, so even without words it'd be obvious to assume that they were his last meal. He offered the berries to the Kitsune as he took another chewy bite.
When he was finished, he stood and followed Selene as she led them away. His heart sank, when she told him of her plans to leave him at town, but he had no right to complain. All he had shown her was how annoying he thought she was, and in return she fed him. He felt a huge debt to her, over the simple gesture, but he had could do little to repay her. He really had no right to ask her for more.
He looked up to her as she gave him her worried look. He wanted to do what little he could for her, so when his eyes met hers, he smiled to her meekly. It was a small change in his expression, that one might miss if they weren't paying attention, but it held all the gratitude that Quiet felt for her. Not just for the meal, but also for reaching out to him. For whatever her reasons were, no matter how sinister or how insignificant, she took the time to talk to him and deal with him and it was nice to not be alone.
Selene watched the boy eat, drawing her tongue involuntarily over her sharpened human teeth, hoping that he could stomach the meat. She wanted to coach him on what parts were best and what to leave, but the situation was too awkward for her to say anything. Instead, she averted her eyes. He'd apparently eaten something like this before, anyway, for him to not hesitate the least bit when eating it. This boy would survive.
"Thank you," she said with a small dip of her head when he offered some berries in his pocket to her. She chewed them tentatively, letting the small fruits burst between her teeth, and licked her lips to erase some of the color staining them. "Well, when we get to a town there will be cooked food. I know nothing but berries and venison taste bland for humans after a while."
The Quiet followed the fox as she marched onward to one of the many entrances to the grounds. She ignored the nagging instinct that made her want to stick around longer and protect him. She was a traveler and meant to latch onto other people, mooch off them, not the other way around. Her olive eyes nervously sought him out again.
And the boy smiled.
Stunned, Selene blinked and wondered if that small shift of his mouth was made up in her head. When it remained for a few more moments, she mirrored his smile with a larger one and slowed down so that he could walk beside her. "Well, I'll make sure you get settled into the town before I leave. It'd be cruel of me to just abandon you like that."
Damn, she wished he didn't remind her so much of Twig—young, dependent, yet defiant too. That much-deserved glare hurt her, thinking back on her bad attitude, yet it reminded her of so much. This boy couldn't be much older than ten, yet his age was far beyond that. Twig had been, on the outside, the opposite—with a mind that didn't allow for maturity, he acted like a kit, with a simplistic understanding of the world. But she'd known her brother had seen something none of the adults could see through his unfocused eyes.
"It's amazing how much can change before the day ends."
She smiled back to him, and Quiet realized that was all he wanted. He thought hard about what she said. She was right of course on both accounts. With in the short time that passed, so much had changed and she couldn't abandon him, but he could leave her with out conflict. He had no real desire to settle in town, or any reason to return there. Beyond that, he could list a few reasons why he didn't want to.
Among those reasons, he didn't want to be a further bother to Selene. The idea of her being chained to the town, and him, until he was 'settled' wasn't ideal to him. Although he did want to spend more time with her, he didn't want to become a burden. He thought hard about what he could do for her. He didn't have anything to offer her, the least he could do was to not ask more of her.
Abruptly he dashed out a few steps in front of her, and turned on his heels to face her. First he nodded his head left to right. Then he put his palms together in a praying position, in front of him, and bowed deeply to her.
It was a little vague what he was trying to tell her, so he decided to wait and see if she understood.
Selene's path was cut off by the boy, who abruptly shook his head and then made the gesture of gratitude from earlier. She blinked once, attempting to comprehend his message. This is why speaking words is beneficial, kid, she thought with some frustration, though she did not speak the words aloud. It was his right to silence, she supposed, no matter how much it inconvenienced her. And she'd taken the trouble upon herself by making him her temporary charge.
She decided to go for the simplest interpretation possible. "You don't want to go?" She hesitated. "No, thank you?"
The vixen sighed and looked over his shoulder at the path they were taking. "I'd personally like to get to a village for some safe rest, for the night at least. You don't want to be around other people or something?" She glanced at his small horn, at the unusual, almost feline eye. "I don't know how to help."
Quiet nodded from left to right again. He ran a few steps away from her until he was standing next to a tree. He looked back to her and waved to her. Surely now she would understand that he wanted to set her free.
He hoped to meet her again one day, soon, and on that day he hoped to be able to repay her for the meal she provided for him.
After waving to her, he turned around and scampered off disappearing behind the tree and further into the forest.