SHIFT 2 - Purgatory

Yako

Nagisa had only gone a short distance before a whip like grip around his waist had him flying backward. He landed on a pile of twigs and leafs, looking up at the sky twinkling between the tree tops. A familiar face peered down at him. The Fox's long silver hair was pulled back from his face. Upside down he still looked handsome.

"What are you doing?" Nagisa cried. He went to leap to his feet.

The Kitsune held him in place. All three tails were wrapped around Nagisa's small body. The fox was on high alert. His face pointed in the direction of Nagisa's feet. He sniffed at the air. Nagisa squirmed under him as Skye used his knee to keep the boy silent.

"That wasn't a psicrie!" Skye hissed.

Nagisa stilled. He could hear the others tromping through the forest. As he watched, he saw little puffs of dark smoke float away on the breeze. These were signs that the psicrie were being destroyed. Nagisa drew in a breath.

The pain filled cries of his niece still floated over the wind. As he let his mind, his body relax he noticed something else. The silence. It wasn't that the woods were silent. He could pretty much tell where everyone in his class was. Every one aside from the very ones the being was targeting. Not a single Romanari was heard.

None called out, none let their location be known. Mori didn't fly the skies. Yet, Moon moon's cries should target them all. Had this been the enemies plan? Where they targeting Marcus because he was closest to them? Why had the psicrie called Nagisa's name? Had Marcus thought about his baby brother out here alone, away from every member of his family.

An anger surged up in Nagisa. Did Marcus think him that weak? What was... Nagisa's endless questions stopped. The sky above was blocked out, as silver hair tickled his nose and cheek. He gazed up into the hazel eyes of the fox spirit.

"We are not alone out here. They have come." Skye hissed softly right beside Nagisa's ear.

Only then did the small vampire witch recall the Kitsune saying the cry didn't come from a psicrie. What else could imitate human speech like that? Nagisa's mind went through the list of creatures. Then he blinked. He focused on the friend pinning him down. A Kitsune! They were perfect imitators!

"I know it wasn't you." Nagisa hissed.

The Kitsune blinked. A soft smile twitched the corner of his lips up. He bobbed his head gently to indicate he understood. Then he stretched his body over Nagisa's. Why? Was he... that was it. The thing was close. Skye was hiding him. Using his own body, he was masking the scent of the vampire.

They laid frozen together. Neither talking. Nagisa wanted to shift, some how his sword ended up under him. It was digging into the soft parts of his back. But that was fine. He could handle the uncomfortableness of it. With the sword under him, it wasn't harming the Kitsune above him.

"What is it? Do you know who it is?" Nagisa asked.

Skye flicked his tail to lightly brush Nagisa's mouth. He took the hint. They needed to be quiet right now. Even the smallest sound could announce their location to the enemy. A footfall sounded.

Nagisa had to bit his lip. He swore it was right beside his head. It shifted. He heard a sniffling cry as if a little toddler was alone crying for her family. His hand twitched. Nothing prepared him for the intensity of wanting his sword in his hand at that very moment.

The sound of the footfalls, as silent as they were, went away from them. Skye remained holding him down for a few more minutes. Then he blinked.

"Thank you for trusting me." He whispered.

"What or who was that?" Nagisa asked.

Neither moved just yet. It was safer to talk like this, this close to each other. Skye shifted so that Nagisa wasn't holding all his weight.