Outside, the moon cast long shadows across the walls of the Lucky Sturgeon, its pale light seeping through the wooden shutters. Inside the room, the fox-kin stirred, her fingers twitching.
In the depths of her subconscious, something shifted. A voice, her own, yet distant, murmured, Wake up. The darkness around her wavered, rippling like disturbed water.
A presence loomed, familiar yet just out of reach. Then, a whisper, not just her own, but something else, something pulling her back. A warmth, a tether, an anchor to the waking world. Her breath hitched as the sensation grew stronger.
Six days had passed since the incident. For six nights, the fox-kin lay motionless, locked in slumber.
On the seventh day, a scream shattered the silence.
Shin's eyes shot open, but he remained still, listening. He had expected this, yet uncertainty crept in. He waited, hearing the frantic movement, followed by the sound of hurried eating. Only when the noise settled did he pretend to wake, stretching, yawning, and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
As he turned, he found her finishing her meal.
Slowly, he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hello again. I am unarmed."
Laverna had scarfed down the food, licking her fingers clean. Her ears perked up as she listened to the male stir. She watched as he raised his hands in the same manner as before.
Raising a brow, she finished cleaning her fingers and sat cross-legged, studying him curiously. Her ears twitched, picking up the sounds around them before she refocused on his voice.
"Why did you save me?" she asked sternly, a trace of sadness in her tone. She had been so close to freedom. "How... how did you save me?"
As he moved toward the door, instinct took over. A low growl rumbled in her chest, her nails briefly elongating before returning to normal. "What happened? I was dead. Death held my fingertips... and then I was back. I felt it. The cold embrace. I was ready. And you stole it from me."
She wasn't sure if she truly wanted to hear the answer. The mark had to be involved. She knew that much. But what it meant, what it demanded, remained a mystery.
A sinking weight settled in her stomach. What if he needed her alive to atone for her sins? She had slaughtered an entire family, laughing all the while.
Would she be condemned? Killed? Was she his scapegoat?
Then again, one couldn't be a scapegoat for something they had actually done.
Had a bounty been placed on her head while she slept?
Time slipped away as the sounds of the outside world pressed in. Then it hit her all at once. The overwhelming sensation of everything. She gasped, trying to shut it out.
"Why... why can I feel everything?" she growled, more irritated than afraid. She could sense every living being in the building, count every blade of grass, every star in the sky. No, she already knew how many there were.
Her eyes snapped to him. "Explain."
Shin could see the fear in her, the terror of feeling trapped in a world she had never belonged to. She had met death and embraced it as her only escape, her only bliss. And now, she was being forced to return.
She could feel everything he felt, just as he could feel everything she did. And he knew she would act out if he kept secrets from her.
She had spent her life in turmoil, chaos, and suffering, sold from one master to another. There was no trust in her world.
He took a slow breath, his expression unreadable, yet the weight of responsibility hung heavy in his eyes. "You weren't meant to die," he finally said. "Not yet."
Laverna's ears flicked, her gaze narrowing. "What does that mean?"
"You bear a mark," he continued. "One that binds you to something greater than either of us. Death may have tried to claim you, but it was never yours to take."
She scoffed, clenching her fists. "And you decided to play god? To drag me back when I had finally found peace? Do you have any idea what you did to me? What you forced me back into?"
Shin shook his head. "I didn't drag you back. The mark did. I only ensured you didn't return broken."
Her breath hitched at that, a memory surfacing. Shadows pulled at her, whispering promises of rest, of finality, only to be torn away. And through it all, she had felt him, his presence, a tether that refused to let her go.
She shuddered. "I don't want this. I wanted to die. That day, I was supposed to die."
"Neither did I want this," he admitted. "But here we are. And you need to understand what's happening to you."
She remained silent, her tail curling tightly around her legs. The overwhelming sensations hadn't faded, and she hated how exposed she felt, how raw. "You keep saying 'the mark.' What is it? Why is it doing this?"
Shin studied her for a moment before exhaling. "The mark isn't just a symbol. It's a contract. A link to something ancient. I suspect it activated fully when you should have died. That's why you can feel everything. Your awareness is heightened, your senses expanded beyond normal limits."
Laverna pressed her palms to her temples. "It's too much."
"You'll learn to control it," he assured her. "I'll teach you."
She eyed him warily. "Why do you care?"
Shin hesitated, then leaned back slightly. "Because I know what it's like to be bound to something you never asked for. To have your fate rewritten against your will."
Her ears twitched, catching the weight in his words, the unspoken pain. It was the first time she truly looked at him, not just as her so-called savior, but as someone who carried his own burdens.
The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken truths.
Finally, she exhaled, her shoulders sagging. "Fine. Explain everything."
A faint smile touched Shin's lips. "That's a long story."
"I'm not going anywhere, am I?"
"Not yet."
For the first time, something other than defiance flickered in her gaze. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was more to her survival than just another cage.
And maybe, just maybe, she wasn't alone in this.