Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 101 – A Taste of Nectar

[Cattleya POV]

“N-no,” I muttered under my breath as I forced myself to take another step forward, “I’m… fine… I’m fine… I know I’m fine…”

The whole time, I had been trying my best to keep my fangs hidden inside my mouth, no matter how much it hurt when they occasionally pricked the inside of my lip. It just did not matter compared to what was going on; it had been a while since I had gotten word of a ship of interest arriving, but there was supposed to be a large grain delivery coming in this evening, a perfect target for whoever had been doing all of this.

I was lucky enough to find Kierra and her eyes, yet I had no chance to make use of her abilities. Now that something had finally presented itself, I simply couldn’t miss the opportunity, even if my body was fighting against me.

It is not that bad.

This is more important.

…

This is much more important.

…

It had been a very long morning of trying to find the kitsune, wandering back and forth through the streets I knew she had been through before, in the diminishing hope of noticing the telltale mana deficit that followed her. It should not have been that difficult for me, but in that moment, it was almost impossible for me to remain focused for any more than a few seconds with this dull pain constantly ebbing through me.

My store of wolf blood was… not as effective as I had expected. There was still a substantial amount left, but because I had underestimated how much it would degrade without the usual bottles, it seemed that what I had left was no longer enough. Even drinking multiple bottles did little more than make me crave more. But it did not matter, I only had to hold out for two more weeks, and everything would be over.

“I c-can do that… I can…”

It did not matter that it wasn’t something I had done before; I knew it was possible from all the stories I had been told growing up.

…

It has to be possible.

…

I had already tried looking for some other animals, but even after a whole week doing so, I could find nothing good enough to… quench my thirst. There were a few small animals scurrying around on occasion, but they were not dense enough in mana to be worth the effort.

 I could not have scared the wolves that badly…

I know I left a few roaming around…

…

It was as that thought crossed my mind that I heard a familiar voice echoing from around the corner from me.

“We really should go thank Elenia for that ring again. I didn’t expect the price to drop so far just by showing it off… And who knows, maybe she’ll even give me one of my own if I ask nicely enough, y’know?”

It was Ava’s voice. I would know it from a mile away… On any other day, at least, for now, hearing her from around the corner might have been my limit.

Immediately, I looked myself over, smoothing down my dress and making sure my jacket was properly up on my shoulders instead of having it lazily sag down my back. As soon as I was sure that I looked presentable, I turned the corner, instantly locking my eyes onto the pair.

“M-Morning,” I said, accidentally stuttering against my better intentions.

You can not be doing that right now.

…

Maybe they did not hear you.

…

“Good morning,” I repeated, making sure not to make the same mistake a second time.

“Cattleya?” Ava spoke first, “It’s the afternoon… Wait, what’s going on with-”

“I have come to…” I paused for a moment as I felt a wave of relentless hunger wash over me, “… make good on our deal. There is a s-ship coming in this evening that is of potential interest, and I need my set of eyes should s-something happen to it.”

I looked up to gauge their reactions, but it was little more than a fruitless effort on my part. My eyes were just not focusing like they used to, making their faces almost impossible to make out.

It is fine. I do not need my eyes.

Kierra is the one who needs to watch the ship, not me.

It’s fine.

“Based on my information, we should be able to get a good view f-from the… lighthouse, but there is also a pier that is much closer, a-although it will be difficult to see the crew from down below.”

The two of them came closer as I continued to speak, which I could only take as their acknowledgement of what I was saying.

“I think t-the lighthouse would be best…” It was difficult to keep my breathing in check, “If we go now, w-we should make it in good time.”

I turned around to lead the way, but before I could take even a single step, something latched onto my arm, holding me firmly in place. Followed shortly by a hand and a warm feeling spreading across my back.

“Look, you’re not going anywhere Cattleya,” It was Ava’s voice again, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you’re hardly standing up straight. I mean, I doubt you could get up a single stair, let alone that whole lighthouse.”

What is she talking about?

“No, I need to go,” I replied, trying hopelessly to pull away from her grip, “I can’t m-miss it…”

“I don’t think you have much of a choice in the matter,” As Ava spoke, she wrapped my arm around her shoulders, before somehow taking a surprising amount of weight off of me, “We haven’t seen you for a week, and now all of a sudden you’re in this sort of state. Just what have you been getting up to in that time?”

“N-no…” Despite my best efforts, my voice was getting weaker with every word.

This is not how it is supposed to go.

“No?” Her voice was firmer than usual, making me tense up slightly as it entered my ears, “Right now, I am the one who is in control, and I’m getting you somewhere to rest, cause you look like you could really use it.”

…

…

There were words I wanted to say, but they just would not come out as anything other than incoherent mumbles.

“I can… at lighthouse,” I managed to say after much effort.

I can rest there instead.

I need to go there.

“You said this ship business is happening in the evening, you have the time to take care of yourself before then, at least,” She said as she started walking, taking me along whether I wanted to go or not, “Kierra, I think I’ll take her to Elenia’s guild. It shouldn’t be too far from here.”

“… Okay,” Kierra replied.

Why are you asking her? Should you not ask me?

Evidently, it did not matter what was going through my mind. Ava was clearly determined to see this through, as it wasn’t long before she started walking me forward. However, as she did, it quickly became too difficult for me to follow her words.

All I could make out were occasional comments like, ‘You’re much lighter than I expected,’ and ‘Why don’t you take better care of yourself?’

Admittedly, even remembering just that much was difficult.

What happened after that was little more than a blur to me; we were outside, then at some point we had gone inside somewhere. I’m pretty sure I saw that black haired rabbit beastkin too, but not for long, as I was dragged around the place until eventually being set down.

“You’re somehow doing even worse than when you found us,” Ava said as I tried to sit up, “I’ve even been using my magic this whole time, but it’s like I’ve done nothing at all.”

Magic?

Ava… has magic too? How didn’t I notice?

…

“… Hungry…” At that point, I was sure that I had completely lost control of my mouth with the way it just said whatever it wanted.

“You’re hungry?” She sounded surprised, “Have you not eaten this whole week or something? I know I fed you when we last met… You really need to take better care of yourself. What if it wasn’t us you ran into? Do you even know what could have happened?”

“I…”

“Just stay here,” She gently pushed me back down onto my back, “Kierra, please watch over her. I’ll go see if they have anything for her to eat.”

“N-no,” I managed to say.

“No?! Are you really in any position to be saying no to me right now?! I don’t know how you’ve managed to last this long acting like-!”

“Blood…” I interrupted, feeling a little panicked.

I do not know why I said what I did then. I could just hear the anger quickly rising in her voice… and I wanted it to stop, even if it meant going against what I had been taught.

“Blood?” She asked, “What do you mean?”

There was some kind of scramble that happened after that, with what I could only assume was Kierra coming over to Ava, though I couldn’t be certain.

Does she not know? I thought she knew?

…

But why would she lie about that now?

I don’t…

“I still don’t understand, but… Whatever. If that’s what she needs…” Even though I couldn’t quite make out what was going on, I could hear Ava pacing back and forth, “Kierra, can you give me one of your knives?”

There was some mumbling, which I once again assumed was Kierra, but it was too quiet for me to make out any actual words.

“No, I’ll do it,” Ava said in response, “It might be more difficult to heal myself, but I can patch up a little nick on my finger without any issue.”

There seemed to be some more words shared between the two of them, but they just slowly devolved into even more of a blur than before. It got to a point where I couldn’t even make out Ava’s voice despite how loud she was.

At least that was until, all of a sudden, I felt something drip into my mouth, nothing more than a small trickle of what I could only describe as nectar. It was incredibly sweet, more so than anything I had consumed before, to the point that it was almost addictive.

I wanted more. A lot more.

I found myself reaching out to try to find what it was almost immediately, yet as soon as I did, whatever had bestowed it upon me had disappeared.

“What was that?!” I jumped up, feeling surprisingly reinvigorated.

My eyes searched the room in a futile attempt to find what it was, only to see Ava with a slight glow around her finger.

Even in my slightly disoriented state, I could put together what had happened. My face quickly heated up as the pieces quickly fell into place.

“Oh, that… that does not matter right now. We need to get to the lighthouse! I cannot be late to this!” Immediately, I stood up in an attempt to hide whatever was coming over me, “There are only a few more chances before-”

“No, that’s not going to happen,” Ava said as she put her hands on my shoulders and forced me back down onto the seat, “At least not until you tell me what’s going on with you. I mean, just how silly can you be? If things were that bad, you should’ve found me sooner. I just- I don’t understand it!”

…