Exposed

Silver River Legacy

Ki ran out of Lumen's room, her tails colliding with things in her path. Running through the halls, she searched for Jae. She stopped and scanned the kitchen, catching her breath for a moment. She quickly moved on to the living room, looking for the alpha. The pack members in the kitchen moved to the living room. Everyone was staring at Ki's tails, amazed by the sight. 

"Jae? Can someone please tell me where he is? I need to speak to him!" Ki pleaded the group.

A yelp sounded throughout the room and suddenly all the wolves were growling at Ki. Taken off guard, Ki stepped back. Looking to her side, she saw one of her tails holding down the arm of one the wolves.

"Get off him!"

"Let him go, right now!"

Ki panicked, responded, "I don't know how! I didn't even know I did that!"

"Everyone, calm down," Jae spoke entering the room. He walked through the crowd and placed his hand on Ki's shoulder. He silently asked her relax. The tail that was holding down the wolf's arm released its hold and returned to its previous position. 

Turning to the group, Jae instructed, "Don't ever touch a kitsune's tails. The only way to kill a kitsune is by cutting off its tails. She was just defending herself. Stand down."

"You can kill a kitsune by cutting off its tails?" Ki asked, curious.

"Yes, it's the only way to kill a kitsune."

"How do you know that?"

"Google," Jae stated before pulling Ki out of the room.

As they made their way through the house, Ki excitedly shared what she'd learned. 

"Jae, I'm old! Really, really old! At least 900 years old! But I can't remember anything except these past two years! How can I not remember anything from 900 years?" Ki asked exasperated. 

Entering Jae's office, he responded, "I don't know. You apparently have amnesia."

Ki explained to Jae about the memories that have been resurfacing. Little by little, she is remembering her past. Realization appeared on her face and once again she found herself running out of the room. She burst back into Lumens room, grabbed the journal, apologized for being rude, and returned to Jae.

"There were 13 of us. I have 12 other siblings! If  I can find them, I can get my memories back. Or at least they could teach me how to be a proper kitsune," Ki said flipping open the journal.

"Okay, what were their names?"

"I can't remember! I know there was Jade and Akane, but the others ... I can't remember," Ki clutched her head disappointed.

Jae took the journal from Ki, and looked through it himself. He looked over the first page, trying to decipher what was written on it. It was covered in writing that he couldn't recognize. The written characters reminded him of Ki's tails. He continued turning the pages until he came across a page he could read.

"You said your siblings name was Akane?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It could be coincidence, but the first entry was made by a kitsune named Akane," Jae said, holding the entry out for Ki to read.

I am Akane, the first kitsune. I've been tasked with guarding the Silver River pack at the request of my mother. While I do not know why she has asked me guard wolves, I respect her wishes. She claims it is her fault for the disasters that have fallen and will fall upon the innocent wolves of the Silver River...

"This is her, my sister..." Ki noted, staring at the page.

"I don't know what happened with any of the kitsune. I didn't even know there was such a thing as kitsune before you. Maybe after they've helped the pack, they returned home to your family," Jae speculated.

"No," Ki sighed, "Foxes prefer to be on their own. If they went anywhere, it wasn't to another kitsune."

Ki began searching for the page she first saw in the journal. When she found it, she turned the pages backwards to find the first entry made by the fifth kitsune. The fifth kitsune introduced herself as Jade, confirming that the kitsune who had helped the Silver River pack were likely all her siblings. Ki read through Jade's entries. She wrote of wanting to go back to when they were all kits. They used to spend all day together, but as they got older they saw less and less of each other. Every hundred years, they would loose another sibling. Jade wanted nothing more than to abandon her duties and search for her brothers, where she dreamed of living in peace with them.

"Jae," Ki whispered.

"Yeah?"

"They're all dead. My family. They're all gone," Ki choked out, fighting the urge to cry, "I just got them back and they're all gone..."

Jae took the journal from her hands and placed in on his desk. He pulled Ki into his chest, stroking her hair. He felt the fabric of his shirt dampen. Ki began shaking as she silently cried into his chest.