The old man set Kiima in his lap when he returned to the fire. A vixen stepped forward from the shadows with two kits in tow: one with a brown pelt and another with a red pelt like the vixen. They curled up on the floor near the fire.
"Taumu was right," the vixen said. "He gave her up."
"He knew this would happen," the old man said. "That's why he asked me to keep watch over this place when he couldn't."
The vixen sat beside him. Her tail wrapped around her paws as she watched her kits sleep. "Do you think he knew he would die so soon, Umi?"
Umi held Kiima closer to his body. "Mun, I think he wanted to make sure that you would take of the child."
The vixen looked to the bundle he held. The baby was fresh- not even off her mother's milk yet. "I cannot provide enough food for a human child in this form. I also have not taken human form in many years. You will have to help me until she can take her Shiera form."
Umi nodded. "You intend to raise her as a kit?"
"It's what Taumu would have wanted." She stood on the arm of his chair to look at the child. "If you wish to hunt tonight, I can keep her warm while you go."
Umi smiled. "I am feeling a bit peckish."
"Give me a moment and I will take her off your hands."
Mun went out into the forest where she shed her fur and fangs for the first time in years. The pain was excruciating as her bones were broken and mended in new places. Red and white coils fell down her back. Her skin was the color of wet soil. Mun looked over her human body curiously.
After not taking the form in so many years, she had thought her human body was long gone. Umi was still transforming even at his age. Mun used the snow to clean the blood and sweat from her body. When she returned Umi offered her clothes and she took Kiima from him.
The chair creaked softly as she rocked with the baby in her arms. Her eyes scrutinized every inch of her tiny face. So this is what a baby Shiera born as a human looks like. She is as small as my kits are now. But she cannot walk or talk. Mun gently caressed Kiima's cheek. Don't worry little kit. I will protect you.
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Two years passed before Kiima's Shiera blood truly began to show. She was walking and often nibbling her fox tail which became a permanent feature. Mun gave her the name Paili, feeling it was disrespectful to use the name of the parents who abandoned her. She loved Red and Tau, Mun's kits, as if they were her brothers. They helped Mun and Umi protect her.
When Mun thought she was ready, she showed her how she transformed from a human to fox. Red and Tau were in shock but Paili was most upset. She wouldn't stop crying until Umi brought her sweet berries.
"It would be too much for her body to transform now," Umi said.
Mun watched them eat. She had forgotten that the boys had never seen her transform either. "I have noticed the presence of wolves. They have taken an interest in this cabin because they know a human child is here."
"She may die if she tries to transform."
"She will die if she doesn't."
"Mun."
She looked at the owl. He spread his wings to their full span. She sneered. "She's already halfway there. Fangs, tail and ears. She is even picking up on the kits' behavior. She would be unrecognizable if she transformed."
The children tussled on the floor as the adults talked. She looked like one of them. Paili would only have to do it once then she could stay a fox forever. Despite what Umi said, Paili showed a want to be like the rest of the skulk.
Mun often caught her sitting alone and whining really loudly. She gave herself a nasty fever once after forcing her body to start transforming but she passed out from the pain. Umi helped nurse her back to health and Mun forbade her from transforming until her body could handle it.
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Umi kept watch at night from atop the cabin for wolves while the foxes slept inside. His large round eyes pierced the darkness. He caught a glimpse of movement among the trees. The call of the wolves and owls made for the soundscape at night.
"I see you demons," Umi called into the dark. "Emil."
Three wolves approached from the front and he knew there were two more in back. The alpha, and biggest among them, stood in front. "A half-breed calling us a demon."
"You stalk through the trees at night and have no qualms about eating children," Umi retorted.
"As do you," he replied. "We won't let another half-breed child be raised in this forest. Mun already has a bastard skulk."
Umi glided down to a closer tree branch. "That's what this is. Now that Taumu is dead, you want to be rid of his skulk. The half-breed child is just a bonus."
"We're not asking nicely. Get in our way and you will join them wherever half-breeds go."
A scream broke the silence of night and Umi swooped down to fly in an open window when two wolves caught him and pinned him to the ground. Emil walked past him and pushed the door open. Mun stood between the wolves and a table where Paili hid. Red and Tau fought the wolves off of their mother.
Emil approached them, snarling menacingly.
"I won't let you hurt this child-"
"Don't worry," he said, "you'll be following right after your bastard children."
He leapt at her and she jumped aside. Mun tackled him to push him away from the table. She rivaled his size but wolves were heavier built than agile foxes. She jumped on his back and bit him with all the strength in her jaws.
Paili watched as they fought to tear flesh, flinging blood on the walls. She flinched at the high pitches of their whines. She crawled from under the table and ran from the back door.
Emil flung Mun against a wall. "After the child!"
Paili struggled through the snow as fast as her tiny legs would allow her. She could hear the wolves coming for her. She fell into the snow and cried. The wolves came to stand over her. Their breath warmed the back of her neck.
SHHK! SHHK!
More whining and then the breath was gone. She heard someone else approach and lay as still as she could. They picked up the wolves and left her there. Paili looked up when she thought it was safe. She caught the back of a man with the wolves thrown over his shoulder.
Red and Tau came to her side. They helped her to her feet and took her back inside to the fire. They were hurt. Mun lay near the fire with labored breaths. Paili ran to her. "Mama!"
"I will not die from this," she said sternly.
"Lucky for us that hunter came by when he did," Red said as he lay beside her. "He scared off the other wolves."
Tau grunted as he joined them. "They'll be back. We need a den to be safe."
"Paili cannot live in a den," Mun replied tiredly.
"If she transformed she could," he said.
Paili sniffled and wiped her eyes. Red glared at Tau. She retreated to the table and refused to talk to anyone.
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A/N: This story will be updated every Friday, if I have not specified that. I am so happy to finally be sharing this story. It is the origin story of a character from a future series. I hope everyone reading this has a great new year and enjoys reading this story as it unfolds. Happy reading!
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Forestborn: Origins of Paili Ward
الخيال (فانتازيا)A child born to a human was revealed to have blood tainted by the rare Shiera bloodline that afflicts ten percent of the population. The shame drives the woman to abandon the baby in the forest and she leaves it in the den of a vixen with two kits...
