Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 310: A Brief Encounter

On our last morning in Neth we got up early, had a quick breakfast and started loading our carriage. As I watched Hatsumi secure a trunk I heard someone from behind.

"Hello."

I turned around and my eyes widened in surprise. In front of me stood a foxkin. I looked at her hair, her ears and her tail, they were all pitch black. Her light blue eyes studied me as I kept staring. She wore black pants and a light grey shirt. Nothing too expensive but neither did it look cheap.

"Hi." I finally managed to respond.

"You are a local?" She inquired.

"Oh, I am studying in Lupos." I replied. "Are you from around here? I have never met another dark foxkin before!" My tail started wagging excitedly.

"Really? What about your maid?" She asked.

"Hatsumi was a light foxkin, she changed when she became a vampire." I explained.

The woman looked surprised but before she could respond something else caught her eye. I looked down and saw Nyx walk in our direction.

"What…" The woman said.

"Meow." Nyx introduced herself.

"Your guardian is a cat." The woman stated.

"Guardian? I suppose. Nyx has protected me in the past." I mused.

"I see. It was nice to meet you." The woman gave me a small bow and left.

"Wait!" I called after her but she did not stop. I looked down at Nyx. "What did you say to her?"

"Meow." Nyx stated.

I sighed.

"Who was that?" I heard Helena ask from behind me.

"I wish I knew! She just left after Nyx appeared." I said.

"Huh. Was she afraid of skeletons? But Nyx is so adorable!" Helena replied, while picking up Nyx. The feline purred.

"She kind of acted weird, called Nyx my guardian… Wait! I think Irene used that word about something she had found. A story about dark foxkin? I don't quite remember." Damn, I had to ask Irene about that.

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"Should we try to catch her?" Helena asked.

"If she does not want to talk we can't really force her." I said.

"Hm. Wasn't Christopher working on some ships to trade with Kitara?" Helena said.

"Christopher?" I asked.

"Christopher Black, the friend of Derrick Payton." Helena clarified.

"Oh, you are right! We talked about that when we all had dinner." I remembered.

"Maybe we can write to him and ask if he knows any dark foxkin." Helena suggested.

"That would be a huge coincidence." I said.

"I don't mean the same woman. But it has been a while and he might have more contact with Kitara now. Maybe he can ask them for information on guardians?" Helena suggested.

"Do you think he would help? We haven't heard from him since Cassie ended that fake engagement." I said.

Helena shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to try."

I was still a bit sad as our carriage started rolling. I had finally met another dark foxkin and she had just left, without saying much. I had told my friends about the brief meeting but there was nothing they could do.

"You know, I think there is one thing that you're missing." Skadi said.

"What?" I asked.

"She has confronted you. She must have spotted you at the conference, then found out where you stayed and came to talk to you." Skadi pointed out.

I frowned. "I suppose but it could have been a coincidence."

"If she recognized something about Nyx, she must have been a necromancer." Cassie added.

"You did tell her where you studied. Perhaps she will contact you again?" Hatsumi said.

"Or she will try to ambush you now. We should be suspicious of any new students. There could be another Eva incident." Cassie warned.

"I don't think dark foxkin are known for light magic." I pointed out.

"Anyone could use a potion, or an artefact." Cassie replied.

"That would be rather expensive." Skadi said.

"Hey, not everyone wants to kill me!" I protested.

Helena patted me on the head.

"If she had planned an attack she would not have introduced herself." Hatsumi reassured me. "She seemed curious and went through the trouble of tracking you down, yet Nyx spooked her somehow. Or at least Nyx changed something. She bowed, did she not? That was not a sign of fear, or anger. She showed respect."

"I had not considered that. But if she respected Nyx, why would she leave? Why would not she stay to talk some more? Nyx, did you tell her to go?"

Nyx shook her head.

"Did you say something that would make her leave?" I asked.

Nyx shook her head again.

"Why do you assume that she understood Nyx?" Helena wondered.

"Hatsumi understands Nyx!" I said.

"No." Hatsumi denied my accusation. "I do get certain feelings through the link but I cannot claim to understand her speech."

"So Nyx did not say anything but Nyx is the key." Skadi concluded.

Cassie looked at Nyx and squinted. "I think Nyx does look more smug than usual."

"She always looks smug, or hungry." I replied.

I was feeling a bit better again. While I wanted to know more about my past I could not complain about the present. I had great friends.

Our carriage kept rolling on and I watched the scenery. Today was the first day of autumn but it was still relatively warm. As the day continued clouds started to form and by the time we stopped for lunch it was looking like rain.

We stopped at the side of the road and I left the carriage. You could still see some farms in the direction of Neth but we had left the populated area. To our left was a grassy field with a few bushes. In about 100 metres it turned into an actual forest. To our right was the Jinso River and we decided to have lunch at its shore.

"What do we have for lunch?" I wondered.

"I was able to get some shopping done before we left! Apparently the lake next to Neth has some great bluegills. I can fry them quickly in a pan with some herbs. I will also boil some potatoes and then quickly fry them in butter." Hatsumi announced, while grabbing a cast iron pan. She set it up on a grate which stood on three metal legs.

"You have upgraded your cooking equipment." I noted.

She grinned. "Yes! I was able to get us better camping gear."

Kaito brought some wood and Kasai used a fire breath to ignite it. The flames were quite intense.

"What sort of wood is that?" I asked.

"Cassie provided a bit of an accelerant." Hatsumi replied.

"Hehehehe." Cassie laughed.

The grate was big enough to hold a pot as well, which was quickly filled with water magic. Hatsumi happily hummed a tune as she cooked.

It made me think about all the people who saw undead only as tools for war. What a silly notion, undead were so much more.