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January |
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January |
Once the smoke cleared, Kenji bounded through the trees on sleek, silver paws. It was nice to run again, to feel the wind in his fur. Sometimes he wondered why he kept to human form for so long, when this one allowed so much more freedom. There was no clothing to get tangled in or human manners to keep track of. And best of all he didn’t have to hide his ears and tail. Kenji had beautiful ears, soft and perfectly pointed with the barest hint of black at their tips, while his tail was full, lush and perfectly proportioned to his body. Both were his pride and joy and Kenji hated hiding them.
Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil when walking among humans. Kenji learned, all too well, how superstitious people could be. He had been in Salem, what, three years ago and barely escaped with his life. Show one person your tail and they try and burn you at the stake for being a demon. Kenji sighed, maybe his parents were right about the west.
He hopped onto an old, weather-worn tree stump and sat for a bit, letting the sun warm his soft, silver fur. Leaves crunched behind Kenji, catching his attention. Kenji’s furry ears twitched and flicked back. Someone was following him, and trying to be stealthy about it, too. Kenji hopped up on a fallen tree and sniffed the air. The sharp scent of cold iron and gun powder hung in the air, making Kenji sneeze.
“A hunter?” Kenji growled and his vulpine tail bristled. “My day just gets better and better.”
Hunters rarely bothered his kind back home in Japan. The people there knew better then to hunt a kitsune, but in the Americas it was very different. Then again, there were no fox-shifters here. The closest Kenji had found were the coyote people of the southwest. They were a fun lot, curious and full of tricks, but they never came this far north. They knew better, or so they told Kenji.
The coyotes warned him too. They told Kenji how tempting that lovely, silver coat of his would be and how any hunter looking to make a bit of cash would probably chase him through wood and desert for it. Not that Kenji listened. Once he had his heart set on something, be it a place, thing or person, nothing could change his mind. Besides, Kenji was pretty sure he could out run and out think a simple hunter. Even if he couldn’t, Kenji was far larger then a typical fox and he could take a man down quite easily if he needed to.
Kenji just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He didn’t really want blood on his paws; really he didn’t.