The Fox and Her Bow

-20-

We spend the rest of the day visiting and chatting, but mostly planning for the war. The sun is falling slightly from its peak when Addison brings out some food.

"I had some leftovers, and I thought you would need some." She explains.

Soon, we are chowing down on some warm bread, eggs and berries we mix and spread over the bread for some taste. Finishing the last crumbs, Addison pipes up, "Now that you know a little swordplay," She smiles slyly. "You wanna have a duel?"

I laugh and put my hands on my hips arrogantly. "You're on!"

The clatter of our swords fills the air for the next hour. Addison has obviously learned a few tricks with her sword, like using the reflectiveness of the blade to shine in the eyes of the enemy. Though we are just playfighting, we both want to show off our stuff.

I charge at her, my sword at the ready. I swipe my sword down in front of me from above my head, and I hear the slice the blade going through the air. Addison backs up and charges at me, with my blade down at the ground. I bring it up to meet hers, a reverberating sound rhythms down the blade into my arms, my chest. I push my sword into hers, forcing her back. I slide my blade down to the pummel of her sword and back up a smidge, loosening Addison's hold on her sword slightly. Then I whip my sword out in a wide arc to the side, throwing her sword away. Consumed in the adrenalin of the fight, I charge at her, my sword aimed at her chest, still with some missing accuracy, but when she rolled away, my sword swings wide and whirls me around with momentum. Addison rolls over to her sword and comes up with it ready in her hands again, her eyes a little wild from how close I was to her. I cannot imagen what my golden eyes must be like.

I come at her, disregarding the fact we are only playing, with a full attempt of seeing blood. But Addison uses her blade to reflect the light into my eyes, forcing me to raise my other hand to shield the light. I hear her move to my left, and I whirl around, just in time to see her charge.

I hold my sword up to block her attack and force her sword down. I swiftly turn around and send my leg out in a kick to her stomach, but not before her sword accidentally shears off the fur on the side of my tail. I let out a little yell as Addison is knocked to the ground. Her sword lays a few feet away, and she has not enough time to grab it before I come and hold my own sword to her throat. We're both breathing hard, but Addison's eyes are wide.

"Woah." She says.

Shaking myself back to reality and calming my furrowed eyebrows, I pull back my sword. A faint red line stays where the blade was held to her throat. That was just a taste of what was to come, and I wanted it. The fighting, adrenaline, it was more than I would ever be able to get out of using a bow and arrow. I wanted to be the fighter on the front lines.

I offer my hand to her to help her up, and Addison hesitantly takes it. We dust ourselves off and she looks me over. "You were quite something!" She says in a shaky voice. "Did you learn all that just in the last few days?"

I sheath my sword but keep my hand on the pummel. "I learned most of it just last night, I guess, though I have done a few drills in the Loop a long time ago."

"Wow." Addison walks back to the cave, but without turning her back. "I mean, I knew you were a fast learner, but not that fast! You were amazing!" She chuckles.

I smile. "Yeah, I guess so." I look away. "I'm . . . I'm sorry I was so hard on you." I wave behind me at the grassy area we had just fought in. "I don't know what came over me." I shrug.

Addison stops in her tracks. "Kalaya, that's just the whiz of battle you felt. I'm familiar with it too. It's natural, and you shouldn't be sorry for it." She gives me a small nudge in the shoulder. "If you are, you'll never be able to win anything." We share a laugh.

Suddenly, I hear a shout, far, far away. I stop in my tracks. My Fox ears perk higher. Addison notices me not following her and turns around.

"What's up?" She asks.

"There was . . ." I hear it again. From behind my cave, it sounds like. "A sound." I jog around the cave entrance, climbing onto the top of the hill. Addison follows.

Beyond is just a bunch of trees, the forest keeps going. But someone is using it for cover. With the threat of war so close, I have no doubt it's someone bad. Getting a sneaky head start, seems like.

I run into the trees, careful not to snap any branches underfoot.

"Kalaya?" Addison whispers. "Where are we going?"

I slink in between the tree trunks for cover, and soon, the voice becomes louder.

"Put it over there. Use this to tie it up." A man's voice, deep and assertive.

"Yes, Chief." Another man, slightly younger. A pause. "Come. Now."

What is going on? I think.

Suddenly, footsteps sound far ahead of us. Having a larger range of hearing distance do you greatly, but sometimes things sound closer than you think. I look around in a panic. The trees are slightly thicker to the right of us. I pull Addison's arm and nudge my head in that direction. She probably didn't hear those footsteps, because her face was just curious, not a little panicked like mine.

She follows me to the trees, and when we were under the cover of the shadows, I tell her what I heard. Her eyes widen at the news. "You think he's here? Roald?" She says.

I nod. "I think he got here a little while ago, secretly, so he could set up more of a base of operation on the land without the Chief knowing." I scan the area in front of us. Nothing has changed. Maybe they were a little more of a way away than I thought.

But then I hear the voice again. "Come along now. Don't put up such a fuss, you know what happens then." He was coming closer.

Then, from behind the tree, I see a man, big and buff, holding a large coil of rope. By his side, he grasped the shoulder of a girl, not older than me or Addison. She has short hair, straight but matted, and a ripped white blouse. Her jeans are muddy and torn. Then I notice something behind her. Just like me, she has a fox tail, swishing behind her. I look up at her face again. Her eyes glow yellow through tears, and on her head are the ears of a fox. A Foxblood. I have to cover my mouth to stop myself from gasping in shock. More uniformed men came out from behind him, all escorting another Foxblood. They all wear muddy, ripped clothing, and are crying. Some of the boys held it in, but their eyes were as red as the ship marks on their arms and legs. When the Foxbloods start to limp and slouch, the man holding them pull them up by their collars and keep walking.

Addison gasps, and I look over to her. Her eyes are tearing up as well. She already has a friend who is tormented for what they are. She doesn't need to see all this.

The leader looks around at the landscape, and his eyes phase over our hiding spot. We duck behind the tree more, and hold our breaths.

"You heard what the Chief said." His voice was directed away from us. "Find a sturdy tree and tie them to it. Make sure they can still shoot. Our victory depends on this."

My eyes bug out. Addison looks over at me.

What?!