Soul ties

"This is the second person today" a young man groaned in annoyance.

"Be quiet Tristan your going to jinx us" said a young woman who was rubbing the soles of her feet.

Kana laid down face first in her bed and little white was stretched out on her back. A small group of people walked in, among them was Anthony. He walked over to Kana and me and nudged us awake.

"Hey wake up its your shift, my turn to sleep." he sounded exhausted and it looked like he could barely hold himself up.

Due to the high demand of soldiers and guards to maintain peace in the city we were forced to split our squad into two shifts. We didn't have enough for three so we often had to hold our own for twelve hours at a time. It started to wear down everyone after the third day and this was the second week since Kana and I found that deranged woman.

I opened my eyes and yawned. Stretching out on Kana's back, I dug my paws into her back and Kana groaned. "Little White stop that before you put me back to sleep" Kana said as she rolled over, throwing me onto the other side of the bed. I ended up on my side and I closed my eyes for just a moment.

I found myself thrown from the bed and I landed on the floor. "Come on Little White if I have to be up you do too" shaking myself I jumped into Kana's arms and tried to snuggle in for a nap but I was dropped as soon as I tried. I sighed and followed her to the bathroom, she undressed and I ran my water mana through my body. I focused on a warm current of water that would collect dirt and grime. I quickly ran it around Kana's body before doing the same for myself.

We dried off and she got dressed as I almost passed out in the towels. I was exhausted, so exhausted I didn't even care for the other women in the bathroom I just wanted sleep. The bathroom at the barracks was much like a community bath house rather than a personal shower room. We just had a quick clean because if we got in the warm water, both Kana and I would fall asleep. We learned our lesson since then, thus the quick scrub down.

I was yanked by my tail and strung over Kana's shoulder like a potato sack, my paws hanging limply above my head. I must have looked like a fresh catch from a hunt and I felt annoyed by that thought but I managed to fall asleep in that position anyway.

The next time I awoke, I found myself at one of the various stalls around the market. A young lady I didn't know was running a comb through my fur. Kana was nowhere to be seen. I immediately bolted up adrenaline running through me as I looked around for Kana. The woman yelped in surprise before letting me know that a young woman dropped me off and that she would be back shortly.

Not caring I dashed off down the street, following our usual patrol route. I rushed between people looking for the black coat that signified the military branch. Seeing someone in the distance that I thought looked like Kana I rushed forward. However a man in a long cloak stepped in front of me and pulled me into an alley before I could react.

Jumping from the person's grip I dropped to the floor and was immediately covered in my ice armor. Spears pointed at the person chest and where I thought their face would be.

The person put there hand up and moved to put down their hood. I let them move slowly so that I could see their face. As the sun uncovered the face in the shadows I was left shocked and at a loss for words. Long black hair, brown eyes and lips the color of blood stared back at me. I let my spears and armor vanish and I jumped into her arms. Vel was back.

"Hey Little White how have you been did you miss me?" she asked smiling as she scratched behind my ears.

A misty "yes" appeared above me in response and the scratching stopped "Where have you been" it asked. She looked down at me shocked before her grin grew even wider.

"I knew you were smarter than you looked" She said "and as for where I've been? That's complicated and a long discussion." She paused "Where's Kana?"

"I don't know" I replied "Was looking for her" with that I jumped out of Vel's arms and began pacing with worry. Vel frowned at that and it looked like she was pouting. If it wasn't for my worried and exhausted mind, I'd have given it more thought.

"Where did you last see her? I fear she may be in danger" with out hesitantion I took off running and didn't look back, I was sure Vel was right behind me.

I took her to the girl that was combing my fur when I woke up and pointed at her. Vel walked up and looked the girl in the eyes "Do you know where a girl with white hair, blue eyes and wearing a soldiers uniform might have went. This is her familiar and we can't seem to find her" the girl looked at Vel then at me and shook her head slowly.

"No I don't, the one who left the little one here had blond hair and green eyes, she spoke little and paid me a great sum of money to care for the fox. She said she'd be right back. I assumed she was his owner and with how slow business was I didn't mind watching over a sleeping familiar." She said with confusion on her face.

"Did you see where the woman went after you spoke to her?" Vel continued

"No I looked down at the white fox that she placed on the stall and by the time I looked up she was gone and a few gold coins replaced her. It surprised me, that amount of money to look after a small Familiar. My family would understand if I didn't work today after that." She pulled out one of the coins and showed us. Vel nodded at that, it would be very hard to see a gold coin in the hands of a peddler, not to mention one as young as her self. At best a peddler can make two gold coins a year so it was reasonable to assume this coin came from the mysterious woman.

I jumped up onto the table and tried to sniff the coin to see if I could pick anything up. I read that snow foxes have a great sense of smell and can track prey in the harshest conditions. I tried to tap into that instinct, desperate to find where Kana went. I felt angry with myself for allowing this to happen just because I was tired. How didn't I notice. The rag, the bear man used before crossed his mind. I shook my head and focused on the scent. Immediately I picked up the scent of citrus and vanilla, smelling the air and judging the wind, I knew where to go.

Running down the street and following the scent, I ended up at a Cafe where the scent of citrus and vanilla permeated the air. Every customer coming and going left behind the scent I was following, a good majority of the people here also fit the culprits discription, blond with green eyes. The Cafe resided on the edge of the nobles side of the city and it wasn't surprising to see blond hair among nobles.

I ran back and forth through the city streets tracking every branch of the scent that I could and continued to do so well into the night. By the time the sun rose I collapsed in front of the barracks, where I called home for the last three months.

In a dark hall in an unknown location a man in a dark robe sat in an elegantly built chair, a woman knelt before him. She removed her own hood revealing blond hair, she pulled that off too and hair the color of blood spilled down her shoulders. Her green eyes seemed to glow in the dark room giving her an otherworldly feel. Behind her tied and gaged was Kana her white hair spilled out onto the floor, her eyes a blinding silver color as she struggled to get out of the bonds.

"Good job Selena, you may go now. Expect your payment in full here soon. I'll be over momentarily, in the meantime can please let me have some time with our guest here" Selena had a smile that grew extremely wide, so wide her mouth literally touched her eyes. Her teeth were razor sharp and combined with her Cheshire grin, blood red hair and glowing green eyes. She looked like a demon that just climbed out of hell.

"Of course master" Selena purred with a sultry voice "Just be gentle" she said and she winked at him. She then turned around and walked out the door skipping the entire way.

"Now with her out of the way, how about we reconnect. Brother, ironic really. In your old life you could do nothing but chase skirts and now you have to wear one." the man on the chair laughed, until he started coughing violently. Blood poured from his mouth. "Karma is a b*tch you know that? I killed you with a poison only to get stabbed in the back. Reborn here I found myself in a body of dead man" he caughed up blood and his eyes glowed brightly "Thing is, the poison that killed my body before is still in my system. Evidently it's a rare poison that erodes the soul just as much as the body. The cure however" he paused before licking his lips "Eating the soul of others, specifically the soul of a close family reletive. Tricks the poison into eating the wrong soul and in the end it fades away" Kana began to squirm on the floor.

"Now Now, none of that brother dearest. I have suffered from the day I came to this God forsaken place. I was chased by monsters and humans alike, I'm not human, I'm not beast. Hell I'm not even an in between, I'm a walking corpse. I've had to feed off the life of others, leeched the souls right out of their body. Oh the taste of a soul. It's exquisite." he stared off into space, drool dripping from his mouth.

His head snapped back to Kana and he got up and walked over, he grabbed her hair and yanked her head to face him. His eyes glowed brightly before the light vanished completely. "What is this" he said before his eyes glowed again only to fade seconds after. "Curses, your a damned two souled" he muttered and then he looked into her eyes again. This time the glow in his eyes grew slowly and pulsed. "well well well, it seems I made a mistake" he coughed dropping her to the floor. "Your not Leo, your his contractor." he spun around to face her a manic glee in his eyes. "He's a damned fox" he laughed extremely hard "Oh Karma really is just too funny" he paused "SELENA!" he yelled and the woman returned to the room. "Please escort this young woman to a holding cell. She's not what I desire, but she is still useful. A tool shouldn't be thrown out until it's use has been diminished, she's the key to my rebirth. Soon I'll be free of these shackles." he started laughing as Kana was dragged down the hallway towards the holding cells. Tears ran down her face and she stopped struggling, unable to use her mana and not strong enough to break her bonds she did nothing but cut into her skin. "Little White, please help me.