A rustle came from the bushes to her left. She crouched low, instincts sharpening, ready to flee or attack; she wasn't sure which. Her small heart thudded rapidly.
A figure stepped out from the trees. It was a girl.
She couldn't have been older than nineteen. Her long black hair was tied back with a fraying ribbon, a few loose strands catching the soft forest light. She wore simple leather armor over a dark tunic, her boots damp with morning dew. In her right hand, she carried a wooden staff with faint runes glowing along its length.
Her blue eyes widened when she saw the small fox.
"Oh… oh stars… you're—"
She dropped to her knees, breath catching.
"You're real. There has not been one like you in many years. I cannot believe my eyes."
The fox stiffened in shock, reality crashing onto her and that's when she realized she was not dreaming; she was partially dead, no longer a human in her world. She had become something else entirely. What? That she did not know. But she knew her prayers were answered, yet not in the way she expected; something was not right.
'What happened to me? There was that voice... I remember I was on the verge of death. Did someone save me, or am I trapped like this now?'
She lowered her gaze, looking at her new form as she tried to make sense of what she should do or where she should go. These things were not supposed to happen or be real, yet there she was living something out of a fantasy.
While she was lost in her thoughts. The girl moved slowly, gently, as though approaching a wounded bird. Her hand extended, palm open, trembling slightly.
"I don't know how you got here," she whispered, voice soft with awe and caution, "but you're… beautiful."
She bristled at the girl, her defenses coming up in full force, since she was confused and had no idea what was going on. She wanted to pull back, to avoid the hand reaching toward her, but the moment the girl's fingers brushed gently against her head, her demeanor softened slightly.
Warmth flooded through her.
Not heat or magic, but a bond, something she had never felt before, even though she had a family.
A pulse of light connected them briefly, flickering like a candle against the wind. It wasn't a full contract, more like recognition. A tentative touch, a question asked in the language of souls.
The girl inhaled sharply as the warmth reached her.
"…You feel lonely," she whispered.
She stiffened as the girl's voice softened further. "And scared. And lost, this world is not for the fragile, which I am, so I understand your pain well."
Her fingers slid gently down the fox's back, brushing the fur with reverence instead of ownership. Her touch was warm, grounding, and almost painfully gentle.
The fox didn't lean in.
But she didn't pull away either.
The girl lowered her head slightly, as if bowing. "My name is Aria. Aria Lysveil. I…" Her voice wavered, then steadied. "I swear I won't harm you; just let me take care of you, little one, or you will meet your end right here."
The fox watched her carefully and Aria visibly swallowed, then added, almost shyly:
"I know what you are, even though there was not supposed to be any more like you."
That caught the fox's attention.
Aria smiled softly. "A Nine-Tail Seedling. There's a legend that only souls who died unjustly are reborn as one."
The fox's breath caught and her mind wandered.
Aria's expression darkened with something like empathy. "Someone hurt you, didn't they?"
The fox didn't answer; she couldn't, since she did not know what was happening to her, nor did she know if she could talk like she once could anymore, but her tail curled tightly around her paws.
Aria lifted her hand again, slower this time. More cautious and respectful.
"You don't have to trust me," she whispered. "But… you're alone out here. And I…" Her voice broke slightly. "I know what that feels like."
The fox blinked and her head tilted as her gaze scanned the girl, wondering whether she should trust her or not.
Something in Aria's tone, the quiet ache, and the way her shoulders trembled felt familiar in a way that reached past instinct and into memory.
Memories of what happened before she arrived, before she was trapped in the fox form, flooded her memories, filling her with a bitterness she could not get rid of. She had died alone and was pretty sure her family would not even shed a tear for her.
And this girl…
This girl smelled like loneliness, too.
Aria bowed her head fully this time, staff resting against the ground.
"If you stay with me," she murmured, "I'll protect you with everything I have."
Silence settled between them.
Mist curled at their feet as birds sang distantly. The scent of flowers swirled gently through the clearing.
The fox looked at Aria and her trembling hands, her earnest eyes, her unguarded heart.
And with a soft breath, she stepped forward.
Aria gasped quietly as the small fox pressed her head lightly against her knee.
Not obedience or submission.
Just… acceptance. She had to find out what was going on and being alone in a world like this, one she did not understand, meant death and that she could not afford, not yet at least.
The bond pulsed once more and her entire body lit up as a crescent form appeared on the side of her right thigh, a sign of a contract.
Aria let out a tearful laugh, stroking the fox's head with both hands.
"Thank you," she whispered, voice shaking. "I won't let you regret this."
The fox closed her eyes.
Not because she trusted the girl.
But because, for the first time since her death, the world didn't feel cold.
And for now…
That was enough. Since she had no one and needed to survive.