Exposed

Focus

"This feels weird," Ki complained, folding her arms.

"Weird? I think you mean good," Jae countered as he navigated through the woods.

"You're suddenly my brother and you seem like you don't want anything to do with the Silver River pack. Your pack, I might add."

Stopping and turning to Ki, Jae said, "I'm not suddenly your brother. I've always been your brother. We slept together as kits. We trained together. We played together. We did everything together."

"Right, of course. I just don't remember most of those things," Ki said looking down at the dirt, "But what about your pack? You haven't spoken to anyone since yesterday. Isn't it your job to keep them updated and safe?"

"I'm only alpha of that pack because I promised mom. If it wasn't for her, none of us would help them," Jae calmly, growled. 

"What do you mean?"

"She fell in love with a wolf. No one trusts foxes, including wolves. The alpha found out that his son was involved with a fox and he...," Jae paused, closing his eyes and shaking his head before finishing, "Our mother went to go help that pack because her mate was in it and instead their alpha killed her. Before she left, she made us all promise to protect the Silver River pack because we have its alpha's blood. She said it was our duty. Our responsibility to protect the innocent from the consequences of one wolf's mistake."

"Our mother was murdered?" Ki said taken aback, feeling betrayed and a newfound hatred for those belonging to the pack.

"Yes. Her death upset a lot of people. Our father murdered the alpha for our mother's death and took his place as the new alpha. His reaction is partially why none of us have abandoned them yet. Us protecting his pack is a sort of thank you and an apology."

"Apology?" she asked, trying to fill in as many holes in her memory as possible.

"For the misfortune."

"Mistfortune?"

"The struggles the pack has had over this past century stems from mom's death. The natural disasters and the threats from other packs are all happening because of an upset friend of our mothers."

'What are you talking about, Jae?"

"Kiwa, kitsune walk the path between the living and spirit world. We can befriend humans, animals, werewolves, as well as, ghosts, gods, and goddesses. Our mother had a lot of powerful friends in the spirit world. When they heard of her murder they delivered punishment on the murderers."

"Gods and goddesses? They exist?"

Rolling his eyes, Jae confirmed, "Yes, of course they exist Kiwa. Well, at least Buddhist gods exist."

Ki mulled over the new information Jae just provided as they resumed walking through the woods. The dirt stuck to their shoes as they trudged through the trees. Every so often a crack would sound throughout the forest from them stepping on branches. 

"Do you know any gods?" Ki couldn't help but wonder.

"Yeah."

"Do I know any gods?"

Laughing, Jae replied, "Yes, Ki. We know the same gods. Maybe we can go visit them once you remember how to get there."

"Visit them? Like go to heaven?" 

"Buddhism doesn't exactly have a heaven, Ki. But as half kitsune we can travel between worlds. Once you relearn your abilities we can go visit mom."

"What?" Ki said dumbfounded. This was all too much for her to understand.

"We'd be going to the spirit world. She's going to be there. So will our brother's and sister's, hopefully," Jae thought as he held a branch out of the way. 

"All of this makes my head hurt," Ki moaned.

Jae stepped into the small clearing in front of their childhood home. The small cave Ki discovered with Jae before, sat before them. Kicking off his shoes, Jae began stripping. Ki couldn't help but stare, not knowing what to do with herself. She watched the muscles in his back move as he began to shift. He began to sprout dark brown, almost black, fur. He collapsed onto all fours as his bone structure began to change. His claws extended as he opened his eyes, revealing a bright yellow color. He moved his head towards Ki, gesturing for her to do the same, before trotting into the cave. Not wanting to strip down in the middle of the woods in front of her brother, she closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on shifting. She felt the world around her. The smells, the feelings, the sounds. When she opened her eyes, she had shifted. Crawling out of her clothes, she followed Jae into the cave. She found him laying down on the cool dirt floor. 

'So, what are we doing here?' Ki asked.

'I'm going to teach you how to turn off your charm.'

'Okay.'

'Eventually, you'll just be able to feel it. How to activate and deactivate your abilities, but for now we'll do it the beginners way.'

Jae stood, towering over Ki's small fox figure. She was probably just a bit bigger than his tail. He walked over to Ki, laying down again in front of her to better reach her eyes.

'It's simple. Just focus your thoughts on what you want. Command yourself. Now, focus your thoughts on turning off your charm.'

Ki closed her eyes. She slowly began blocking out her senses. The feeling of Jae's stare fell away as she thought of her charm. She imagined a pink mist swirling around her. She watched it envelope her in her mind and then imagined it disappearing.

'Good,' Jae said, causing Ki to reopen her eyes.

'Did it work?'

'Yes, you're considerably less appealing now,' Jae teased.

'Shut up.'

'It's as simple as that. Just think of what you want and you'll get it.'

'Wait, really? That seems too good to be true,' Ki asked in disbelief. Kitsune are pretty powerful if they just have to think to get what they want.

'Yup, really. Of course you have limits, but for the most part just focus.'

'Why'd we come all the way out here for something that took 10 seconds?'

'Because I wanted to return home with my sister.'