A Shot From Fox and Zash's Past

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[This takes place when Fox was around 14.]

Kitsune Dawn Fira, commonly known as "Fox", sat on a stone wall which lined the road that led to her tiny neighborhood one morning. She was at genuine peace for once, her mind distracted from it's dark and conflicted areas as she looked up at the fresh morning sky, cloudgazing happily. Oddly, instead of her normal attire, she wore a pure white sundress that morning. A fresh, gentle breeze blew through the area, accentuating the atmosphere.

"No.... we HAVE to keep going........" Fox panted. "I don't know why or what, but something's calling to me from down there." she mumbled, pointing forther down the tunnel. She started to stand, then grimaced and got down on both knees. "What ever it is, it's STRONG." she groaned. Fox had an idea of what she thought it was, but she wasn't completely sure. She wanted to know, though. She HAD to know.

Zash bit his lip. " Fine but you can't even stand." He got in front of Fox and kneeled down. " Get on my back I'll carry you the rest of the way, just promise you won't pass out on me otherwise I'm lost." Zash said trying to give it a light tone but failing it really showed how nervous and worried he was.

"I-I don't need to be.... carried!" Fox protested heavily, but then she slouched over from another wave of pain hitting her, this time in her chest. She clutched at her heart, groaning again. "Ungh, if only I hadn't fallen so much..... Jeez I'm useless." she grumped. Still, however, she insisted on pulling herself off the ground and getting to her feet. "Alright, lat's go." she huffed, still clutching at her heart. She didn't want to appear weak in front of her friend.

Zash half grinned. " Fine then, suit yourself. But hey promise me something okay?" Zash said his ton serious now. He looked at Fox his expression was pained he hated this right now but her determination was rubing off he guessed now he wanted to find this thing too. " Your not gonna get hurt anymore promise me that okay?" He asked.

"... I promise, but I can't stop these energy fluxes. They're all over, and getting stronger by the second." she explained, then began limping forward. "Let's go." she called to Zash.

Zash let her lead he stuck behind ready to catch her if she fell backwards. " What da ya think it is?" Zash asked he knew she'd said she couldn't explain it but he couldn't help asking, he was worried it was gonna be some kinda demon hing or maybe an angery ancient pokemon.

"Guh, I don't know......" Fox responded. "Whatever it is, it has a TON of energy. And it's bearing down on me like it's burdening me, like it doesn't want me near it. Or maybe that's just it. It wants me here. Or MAYBE even...." her eyes got wide as she had a little internal epiphany. "Maybe it's not me it wants. maybe it's...... HIM." Fox immediatly became worried for her friend. What if this odd force wanted him dead, and she was guiding him right to it? She knew that she had always had a weird ability to be able to feel the supernatural, which was probably why she was feeling this at such a high level, but she still couldn't quite make out who EXCATLY the force was directed to. "Uhhh.... Zash? If you don't want to go any farther, I can go it alone....." she offered sheepishly, her fingers crossed.

Zash blinked. " No way, your not going alone!" Zash said firmly, this was weird he knew Fox was wanted to walk alone and be strong but telling him he could leave it was off. Zash tensed up his flame light grew a little bigger lighting there way a little further. He held his hand up and another fireball; appeared there he let it fly out of his hand slowly and hang above fox. " IF we get seperated again it'll stay lit you won't have to worry about stumbling around in the dark." Zash told her.

"Thanks, but I'm not sure if we will." Fox told Zash. "These impulses are so strong now it's pretty clear where they're coming from. I just can't tell WHO it is they're meant for....." Fox mumbled as they walked on through the seemingly endless tunnel.

" What'd you mean who?" Zash said with a gulp. " It's not like this thing wants us right we're just going cause you felt something right? It's not like you were being called here." Zash tried to convince himself as the steady truth came to light.We're being lured here! Something wants us here ! Zash felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

Fox didn't answer this time, unlike her usual self where she would try to offer some comfort or advice to her friend. She had a very dead-looking expression on her face now. She stared ahead blankly, and she almost looked like a real zombie. She just continiued to move forward without a sound, her arms hanging limp at her sides and her gazed fixed into the black void, although she didn't appear to really be "seeing" anything.

Zash stuck his hands in his pocket and said very softly much too softly for fox to hear" Fox?" He shuffled along behind her but kept an eye right on her she was really troubling him now. At least before she was herself now she was a shell.

Fox's pace started to slow a little as they neared another break in the tunnel. But she diddn't even stop to think, she took the right path. It was more like a burden was weighing her down, causing her to walk siower. She hadn't answered Zash, she just kept moving.

Zash slowed as she did so he stayed behind her and kept the same distance, He made a show of breathing heavy like he was getting tired but in all honesty he had been perfectly fine the most taxing thing he had done this entire time was sprint a little ways down the tunnel. He was the one that felt useless now Fox was pushing herself now to get down a tunnel they had only just found only to get to a preacense that may or may not want to kill them. Zash was taking an afternoon stroll compared to her.

All of a sudden, as they were walking, they began to pass some small blue crystals that lit the subterranian paths a little bit. At first they were small, but then the clumps got bigger as they walked along. They appeared to just be growing straight out of the ground. Fox had no reaction at all to these strange things, none of her normal "Oh wow, look at that!". she just walk blankly past them as if they weren't there.

Zash blinked in wonder at the glowing crystals, he'd seen alot of crystals before his dad was a miner and they'd struck gold and diamonds and different kinds of crystals before his dad had taken him to the mines to see all kinda of rare metal and cyrstals but never before had he seen something like this they they seemed to be pulsing with the strange light. " Amazing." Zash whispered in a hushed noise of amazment.

Again, Fox made no attempt to respond to Zash. It appeared that she wasn't even hearing him anymore. She walked as if she were possesed by something that was calling her to it, and she was determined to get there, be it a trap or not. As they walked, the tunnel also appeared to get wider.

Zash instantly notice the tunnel start to expand he didn't like it. It reminded him of when there was going to be a big one on one battle and the two warriors fought in a wide open area like a field or an arena. Snap out of it Fox! I don't want my grave to be some dank dark cave! He shouted in his mind but he couldn't say that not with Fox like this it would it would only slow them down, Zash realized. The reason she wasn't speaking anymore was cause it would slow her down she, she had more then determination now it was like some outside force was forcing her towards the end of the tunnel and Zash didn't like it he balled his fists but there wasn't really anything he could do, he had no power with his ghostly influence he also couldn't even feel the same attraction towards what lay ahead as fox did he could only be silent and watch over Fox.

Finally, the duo arrived at the mouth of the tunnel. Who knew how long they had been walking now, but they had finally arrived at some sort of destination. It actually turned out to be a HUGE maze of the blue crystal they had seen before. Some of the specimins in the room were 1000x as big as the ones they had passed on the way there. Some were even bigger. Fox didn't hesitate, She just walked into the maze entrance without stopping.

Zash didn't wast time gauging at the crystals this time he stayed behind fox closer now he really didn't want to lost in this maze, thou he did looked on the bright side if he did at least he wouldn't be scrambling around in the dark. Zash held up a hand and shut off his mini suns since the whole room was more or less as bright as if they were above ground. Zash felt something off when he turned off his flames his pyromancy was weaker here it was just not as good, that was weird there was enough oxygen in here he'd be able to make flames his own magic energy was the fuel and heat source but somehow he just couldn't make his flames any stronger. He didn't feel weaker at all so it wasn't his own energy, maybe it was the cystals maybe they were a stabilizer interfering with the partical acceleration needed to make his flames burn. Zash shook his head he was worrying too much after all he had more up his sleeve then flames.

Fox finally stopped for the first time when she came to a crystal wall some way into the maze. She felt it, like she had the wall with the river behind it, the backed up a few steps. She stood for a minute, then without warning she held up one hand and a high ammount of alchemical power began storing up in it. She kept charging power for a good five or so minutes, the stepped back forward and touched the wall with it. The force of the resulting beam of alchemical power blew Fox backwards onto her back, and the alchemical beam vaporized/deconstructed every crystal in their way, which was a lot of crystals.

Zash caught Fox after she had been blown away he'd been frightened by the amount of energy she was storing and it had been alot it had been so much even with Zash catching fox she had still been moving fast enough to knock Zash down. He was now pressed against one of the maze walls with Fox ontop of him. " Dang!" Zash said loudly not really knowing what else to say.

Fox stirred slightly. The jolt of the blast appeared to have awakened her from whatever trance she had been under, if only for that moment. "Owwww..... my head......" then she remembered her promise to Zash and panicked a little. "I mean, it doesn't really hurt! It's just throbbing a little, that's all!" she corrected herself. She had yet to notice that she was basically sitting on top of him. "Uhh.... Zash?" she called, looking around.

" Yeah I'm here." Zash said tapping her shoulder. Zash laughed at fox's lack of noticing how she's basically sent him into a wall. " You okay?" Zash asked he was pretty sure he'd taken the brunt of it at the very least. He noticed Fox wasn't all spaced out anymore too an even better sign.

"Oh! Sorry!" Fox exclaimed apologetically, scrambling to her feet. "I'm really confused and a little tired, but otherwise okay." she responded to Zash. Then she looked over to the giant hole she didn't know she had created. "Woah, where did THAT thing come from?" she asked in awe.