Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Seventy-nine

"What did you just say?" I asked in slow, deliberate way, hoping to hide the tremor in my voice.

"BB. It's me. Ryan. I mean, I know I don't look like myself but, I'm here. You're still so beautiful Bailey. My BB. And our cub! He's so brave. He has my eyes." He blabbered like he used to when he was nervous. When he was alive.

I lost feeling in my legs and collapsed onto my rump, barely noticing the pain in my tailbone. In a daze I looked at the necklace the scorpion was wearing and with barely a whisper put a piece of the puzzle together, "He found your soul stone."

"No, I- that's right." The scorpion's voice changed from gentle to mocking. "This fool wanted to get back to you so badly that, had he been able, he would have jumped into my hands. He's been playing memories of you in my head for weeks trying to tempt me to come for you. I wasn't going to listen to his blathering but then an eagle came bearing quite the message. Can you imagine my surprise when baldy's lacky mentioned this fox's female was also the female that my father would want to see?"

I looked at him, confusion plain on my face. The world seemed so foggy and I was struggling to grasp his words.

"Baldy said you were a gift from the gods and I might have to agree if I believed in such things. You being able to raise the dead and my mother needing raising and all."

Another piece clicked into place. "But I can't..." I read the novel. I knew where his mother was and how insane his father was without her. Would he kill me if he knew I couldn't raise the dead? His mother had been a corpse for over three decades. Even if I knew the general area the female soul stones were, it could take just as long to find them and then the minute she was revived, she would start to decay. No one really knew how soul stones worked but I at least knew St. Zachary's plan was a fool's errand.

No. If he found me to be useless, Mitchell might not kill me with Ryan's soul stone around his neck, but his father would. I couldn't let him take me. But Ryan's soul...I had to get it.

"Can't what? Lying won't save you female. Half the visitors to Flame City talk about your great healing miracles."

The scorpion kept going on about how it was all so serendipitous, but I was done listening. I mustered my will and attacked.

I didn't dream of being able to kill him, but I could at least try to get the stone and run. I had to do it all fast or I would fail. First, using Harvey's speed, I rushed the feral and reached for the stone around his neck. He seemed surprised by my action but being four stripes, was able to react by placing an arm in front of himself, blocking my hand. Missing my objective, I tapped into Winston's strength and shoved into the blocking arm, pushing him off balance. It didn't push him far, but it was enough that he had to place his hands out to catch his balance.

This time I used Lance's speed to strike out, grasping for the gem as it floated off his dark chest. My fingers closed around the leather cord and snapped it. Then, using Shuu's agility, I turned on my heal and ran. For a full second, I thought I had succeeded and was going to escape. And then something hit the back of my head and all went dark.

***

"You didn't warn me she was so wily." Mitchell berated Ryan's soul as he checked to make sure the female was still alive and picked up his stone, re-tying it around his neck. A mixed feeling of pride and unfamiliarity filled him. Ryan didn't know she had such a brave character either. The Beautiful Bailey, his BB, was more quite and easily spooked in his memories. She must have gone through quite a bit after his death to have changed so much. Maybe it was because she had their cub now? Maybe she had to become braver to keep other males from killing their Kit.

The highway of emotion and memory hit a jam when the scorpion that had been waiting around the bend of the tunnel, and stopped Bailey from escaping with a well-aimed smack, spoke up. "Orders, Scorpion King?"

"Yes. Right. We should probably get a move on since she used her mate's marks." Mitchell leaned down to hover over her and started taking off Bailey's clothes piece by piece. The other male reacted strongly to her scent but was suppressed by Mitchell's pressure. Ryan was fuming inside but the scorpion ignored him. Once she was naked and with a few bruises from his rough handling, he gave the clothes to his subordinate. "Take these, give one piece to two others. Head to the desert above ground and below but in a branching formation. We need to buy some time. They'll be able to sense her direction but maybe they'll follow the wrong scent."

The scorpion brought the clothes in his hand to his nose and took a deep breath before moving to follow Mitchell's orders. Once they were alone again, he picked up her body and went back into the cavern to the tunnel he had originally entered from.

A whimper brought his attention to the black and red fox struggling to put strength into his legs. "You're lucky I don't have time to kill you. Though you might off yourself when you find out just how much you've been used by that ape." He smirked at the pathetic fox and then continued his journey through the tunnels.

With his army of mindless scorpions, he was able to quickly find an exit and traveled towards his kingdom above ground. When he came to a small cliff, he shifted one arm into a pincer and cut a foot of the female's hair, letting it drift into the wind to hide the true direction of her scent even further.

He held the warm body close and indulged in the touch of her soft skin. Ryan was like a mosquito in his ear but it didn't stop him from relishing in her softness every second he got. It took four days to get to Flame City. The female woke a few times but the strength of the blow must have been too much as she would quickly slip back into unconsciousness. Females are so weak, he thought to himself and made a mental note to reduce his strength to the touch of feathers if he didn't want to damage her.

When they arrived, he didn't immediately take her to his father. He told the ancient beast that he wouldn't waste his time until Mitchell was able to determine if she really had such great abilities. St. Zachary didn't have a lot of faith in the rumors to begin with. Foxes were known to be tricksters, so he allowed his son to do what he wished with the female so long as he didn't kill her. Once they discovered her lies, he would do it himself.

Bailey was placed on Mitchell's own bed and in the King's quarters and laid next to her, reliving Ryan's memories of their days together. 

He waited for her to wake and for her mates to come so he could kill them properly and claim her for himself.

***Going into this arch, I am going to take some liberties. This is a fanfic so this shouldn't be a spoiler to anyone. Soul stones had a lot of plot holes in the novel. They didn't feel very fleshed out, though that could have been the translation. So, I might be changing things and for the sake of clarity here's a little info. 

Female soul stones are made of 7 stones with the strongest emotions (Hate, Anger, Fear, Sorrow, Joy, Compassion and Love). Soul stones are physical manifestations of a dead person's memories that fade over time. Let's say 50 years or so because the novel mentions Chris's memories would have faded in a few more decades. 

Male soul stones are single black stones containing all a soul's desires. If a rootless male and the stone he wears have similar personalities, they can communicate and share emotions. In the novel they said Mitchell doesn't have a soul because he was born rootless. I'm going to say he does, it's just very hard for him to feel emotions. Rootless to me is someone whose desires have been cut away. Making them listless.

If a female wears a female stone or stones, the emotion of that stone will heighten the wearer's. If she has all 7 she can see the memories associated with those emotions. 

The stones plus a soulless body does not bring the dead back to life. The body will still decay. Male stones are destroyed by sunlight as they bleach out, female stones only by smashing but are hard as diamonds and very difficult to destroy. If a stone is destroyed instead of naturally fading, the soul is destroyed. If it naturally fades with time, they can reincarnate just not necessarily in the same universe. 

Anyway, sorry if I stray from the main novel a bit but I hope you enjoy it all the same.***