Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Battle of the Heart ❯ A Violent Meeting ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

 

It had happened again. Not five years had past since his escape and already Rais found himself in the hands of those despicable humans again. His mentor would not be happy, and he couldn't say he was all that pleased either. Rais looked out of wooden bars that were nether necessary to hold him, nor capable of doing so. The humans used these bars to make themselves feel safer. The real thing that held him was the glowing blue topaz that hung around his neck. A stone whose twin hung around the neck of the man that had caught him. As long as that human held his stone's twin he and to follow his every command, and the man had commanded him to stay in the cage. Rais knew what came next. He would be sold to whoever could pay his price and then forced to obey their every order.

 

Rais sighed sliding down the bars the lean against the knotted wood. The cage held two others, a silver fox with wide green eyes and a gold fox who was striding back and forth, a growl sounding in his throat as Rais' eyes came to rest on him.

 

“What are you looking at pup?” The golden fox's voice was full of superiority and contempt. Rais felt his skin prickle, his hair rising at being referred to as a `pup.' He was over 200 years old, the equivalent of a young human adult. He had been on his own for over sixty years, and he was neither in body or mind a pup.

 

“I was wondering how they managed to catch a gold fox. Either they were very lucky or you were very stupid.” Rais' voice dripped with clear hatred. He may be a fox but he was in one way similar to this creature. Golden foxes were all the same, narcissistic, self-righteous pigs. As far as they were concerned Rais and the thousands of other silver foxes that made up the body of the kitsune's population were nothing but pawns in a game far beyond them. The silver foxes were told were they could live, when they could breed, and in case of war, when and whom they were to fight.

 

It was down right comical that one was now here, destined to spend the rest of his life fighting for those who were weaker then he was. The gold fox turned away from Rais, apparently thinking it bellow him to beat the shit out of a silver fox for a disrespectable comment. Rais couldn't say he wasn't thankful. He didn't care to get into a fight, particularly one that he couldn't win.

 

“What's going to happen to us?” Rais looked down at the other silver fox. The wide-eyed runt really was just a pup. Rais was sure the boy wasn't even a hundred years old. Rais was suddenly taken bake to a different cage with a different fox residing within. He was the 70-year-old boy who was caught by humans for the first time. He had been thrown in a cage with an old silver fox. That fox had told him everything would be okay, and that he had nothing to fear from the humans. Rais would not make the same mistake.

 

Rais sat next to the boy putting an arm around him. He sucked in a breath of surprise when the boy latched onto him, and tried not to shy away from the clinging hands. The gold fox stood nearby and tried to act like he wasn't paying attention. Rais took a deep breath before answering the boy's question. “There will be humans coming here too look at us soon. One of them is going to buy you.” Rais paused when he felt the boy tense up. He was right in assuming this was the boy's first time in captivity, and he prayed the pup would have a better time of it than he had faced. “What's your name kit?”

 

“Gabe.” The boy said in a chocked voice.

 

Rais raised an eyebrow, the name was a human one, and it made him wonder. “Listen Gabe, you can survive in this world but you have to obey understand? You've got to listen to the orders your master gives you, believe me they can make you listen if they have to. Above all else you have to win Gabe. They will make you fight, and you will have to win.”

 

The gold fox snorted, finally turning his eyes on the pair. “That boy is as good as dead. He won't make it through his first battle.”

 

Rais felt the kit stiffen even more in his arms and he held him tight as he waited for the buyers to come.

 

 

Lamar had been looking forward to his fifteenth birthday for some time. He was finally old enough to be considered a man, and to join his tribe in the age old tradition of taming and battling the kitsune, a race of nine-tailed foxes that were known for their savage tendencies, and their trickery. For years the kitsune had pilfered and killed without mercy, and no one had been able to stand in their way. Lamar's people had changed all that. They had found a way to control captured foxes, forcing them to obey any command they received. The vile creatures were now paying for their crimes by fighting for the humans in contests that determined a person's class and wealth. As was tradition, Lamar would receive his first fox this day. He had been given sixty pensives from his family, enough to buy a fine fox, perhaps even a gold one if such a creature was available. Everyone knew that gold foxes were stronger than silver ones. With a gold fox fighting for him Lamar would not lose.

 

Lamar stopped in front of a man dressed in the red robes of a foxhunter and showed him his pass that identified him as an adult, and more importantly as a fox fighter. The man nodded, letting him pass through haphazardly constructed gates and continue into a maze of wooden cages. Lamar passed through these cages quickly, only pausing long enough to make certain that there were no gold foxes within. As he continued on he began to wonder if there were any of them here at all. That is until he came to a cage that was completely blocked from sight by many older fox fighters. Lamar pushed through these people, receiving many glares for his actions. His heart feel when he saw what lay within, it was exactly what he'd wanted, a gold fox. The creature stood there in all its glory. Tall and prod with sharp pointed ears, fires yellow eyes, and three long sweeping tails. Lamar had seen foxes before, so he knew that this creature was in its half form. It would also have a human form for stealth, and a full form for fighting. There was one way he could get this one now. Not when it had gathered the attention of so many experienced fox fights, all with much heavier purses than he. Lamar turned to go, maybe if he was lucky he would find another gold fox.

 

Lamar stopped turning back in surprise when he caught a flash of movement out of the comer of his eyes. He focused on a silver fox that he had not noticed before. The movement he had seen was a small stone thrown into the cage, and then caught by the silver fox. The creature was now growling at the man who had thrown the stone, his hair bristled and his teeth showing. Lamar blinked looking in at the stunning creature. Like the gold one this fox was in half form as well. But unlike the other he only had two of his nine tails showing. The part on his ears and tail where he had hair shone brightly like silvery silk reflecting in the sun, even in the damp dark cage he was in. He was sure to be gorgeous in full form, and a part of Lamar longed to see him that way. He had eyes that were the same color as the blue topaz that hung glowing at his neck. Those eyes were filled with a mix of rage and poorly suppressed panic that startled Lamar. He figured that foxes could feel panic, but he had never thought about it before. He wondered at the sting in his heart at seeing that look, but decided he didn't want to think too much about it. Considering that he was silver the fox was strong. He had swiped the stone out of the air using impressive reflexes, and the way he used his own body to shield the smaller fox behind him was very strange behavior for one of his race.

 

More stones were thrown into the cage as the other fox fighters took the hint from the first man. Lamar found himself horrified by this act. It was one thing for a fox to be harmed in a battle where they could put up some form of defense. This sick means of amusement was another thing all together. Lamar turned and ran towards the near by hunter who was overseeing sales. The man would not want his merchandise harmed. Surely he would put a stop to this.

 

The man looked at Lamar with only slight interest as he came up. “You decided on one then?”

 

Lamar blinked but then shook his head pointing towards the cage that held the two silver foxes. Even from here Lamar could see the larger of the two sliver foxes using his body to cover and protect the little silver one while a slew of rocks were pelted at them. Lamar wondered why the hunter hadn't done anything already if he could see it was going on. “Aren't you going to do something about that?” Lamar was surprised by the anger in his own voice. He didn't care what happened to those foxes after all. They were monsters, and would kill him if they had the chance. Even as he fought this he heard the silver beauty cry out and saw a trickle of red run down his cheek were an especially sharp rock had hit him. Lamar's hear jumped and he struggled not to let anger rise within him. They were monsters, he told himself again, and he just didn't like the way his fellow fox fights were acting.

 

The hunter just laughed shaking his head, “Naw, those two ain't worth shit. That bigger one's a runaway. We just caught `em last night. Rumor is he killed his last master. The `ittle one's too young ta make a good fighter. Won't sell for much and those guys are all big spenders, if they wanta have alittle fun I ain't the one whose gonna stop them.”

 

“I want to purchase those two then.” Lamar blurted out the words before he even thought about what he was saying. What the hell was he going to do with a dangerous runaway and a pup? But even he couldn't just stand by and watch the pair be stoned to death. Besides, the big one couldn't be that bad. He was protecting the little one after all. Perhaps the rumor was just that, a rumor. And then there was that look in his eyes that dove right into Lamar's soul. No, he couldn't just walk away from these two. He'd never forgive himself.

 

The hunter laughed thinking that Lamar was kidding. A part of Lamar wished he was. So much for a gold fox. But the silver one did look tough and he had snatched that rock out of the air so his reflexes were good. And the pup had to grow up eventually. Lamar didn't know how long it took for foxes to mature but it couldn't be that long. “How much for the pair.”

 

The hunter's face turned sober. “Listen kid you don't want those two. Go do yourself a favor and find a nice docile fox to start out with.”

 

“How much.” Lamar's tone was firm.

 

The hunter frowned, “10 pensives for the little one, 40 for the big one.”

 

“But you said the big you was a runaway and a killer.”

 

The man smiled, “I said he might be a killer, but that's just rumor., He's also an experienced fighter, 40 pensives, take `im or leave `im.”

 

Lamar sighed and counted out his money. It left him only 10 pensives for supplies. `You better be a good fighter, fox, or we're all going to stare.' He thought as he took the two glowing stones that would control his new purchases. The smaller of the two was malachite and it glowed green and warm in Lamar's hand. The second stone was the blue topaz, but the moment it fell into Lamar's hand it turned dull, cold, and unresponsive. Almost immediately after this Lamar heard a series of screams and he turned to see that his new fox had leapt through his cage and was now descending on his human tormentors. The hunter came right up behind Lamar, chuckling. “Didn't think ya could handle that beast and I was right. Ya got two minutes to get `im under control. Otherwise I'm sending my own fox in after him. Oh, and no refunds, our policy you know.”

 

Lamar didn't take the time to respond. He ran at his new fox, already regretting his decision.