Part Two
Almost as soon as Renamon entered the forest, she leapt up into the high branches to keep away from the many dangerous beasts that dwelt on the ground below. She jumped quickly from tree branch to branch, her motion barely disturbing the snow covered leaves until she finally reached a secluded part of the forest.
She leapt down to the ground nearby a large hill and then Renamon smoothly pulled open a well concealed entrance. Once she was certain they were unobseved she carefully carried Rika down the long descending passageway into her underground den, firmly closing the enterance behind them. It was warm in the cavern, the air sweet but she was only concerned with the fragile form she carried.
Renamon gently undressed Rika first, setting aside battered, dirty garments then carefully laid her down on a soft bed of tanned furs. She looked with fear and concern how bone thin Rika was, thinking to herself, ‘First some rest, then I need to feed her.’ Renamon sniffed slightly and smiled, "Not to mention a bath." Renamon smoothly knelt down there, then she lay down beside her even as Rika curled instinctively into her comforting warmth.
Renamon looked over at the sleeping girl beside her thoughtfully, and let herself remember. Hiding in the shadows Renamon had gone to watch the village when her loneliness became too much to bear, needing to be in the presence of others, even ones so different than she was. She had often seen Rika from the safety and shelter of the forest, when Rika was living in her small village. The girl had seemed angry, and strangely alone, even when she was with her Mother and Grandmother. Renamon had found herself coming back to watch her again and again over the fall, and felt something, some kind of bond developing with the young girl.
Rika was a huntress and a fighter, but she lived in a village that was made up of only crafters and healers. The others seemed to watch her with a great deal of astonishment, confusion and often anger. Renamon watched the furor when Rika flatly refused a betrothal to the young man, Rio and could almost sense the girl’s pain and confusion. Feeling Rika move against her slightly brought Renamon back to the present and the girl laying beside her.
When she had looked into Rika’s dark eyes, Renamon had seen such great pain and a deep loneliness. It had reminded her of her own situation, being so far from home and her blood kin. ‘Maybe together,’ she thought, looking down at the red haired girl, gently ruffling the red hair, ‘we can help ease each other’s loneliness.’
“I would be here for you, Rika,” Renamon whispered softly to the still deeply sleeping girl, “if you will let me.” With those words, she gently pulled the furs up around them both and tried to get some sleep as well.
Rika began to stir, the sweet scent of cooking food bringing her slowly but surely back to conciousness. She sat up in bed then blushed faintly and moved to cover her nudity as she realized that her dirty clothes were missing.
“I cleaned off your garments,” Renamon soft voice came from the shadows and Rika started, not having heard her footsteps.
Renamon walked nearly silently into the room, using that same sort of grace she had in the dark forest, carrying a steaming wooden cup in her hands. Still, there was something different about her, a sense of relaxation in this strange place they were in. She smoothly knelt down beside where Rika sat up on the bed and gently placed the cup to her lips, a hand supporting Rika's back.
Renamon gently instructed, “Drink it down slowly, please. You’re still very weak, and I do not wish to make you sick.”
Rika sipped carefully and found the richly made soup tasted wonderful, then gently pushed the cup away to smile and say, “Thank you very much.”
Renamon didn’t say anything, she just smiled back at her and Rika marveled at how easily she could read the kitsune’s face. Rika looked around her, marveling at the size of the chamber that she lay in. The roof was nearly twice as high as Renamon was tall, and the walls were hung with many furs or painted with patterns or scenes of the outside world. Soft candlelight gave the room a mysterious feel, and openings lead into other rooms.
“You are very welcome,” Renamon said simply. Rika shook weakly, and Renamon gently slipped an arm around her to help hold her up. “You still have a bit of fever,” Renamon noted, “but your body is already fighting it off.” She offered Rika a robe, smiling.
With a bit of assistance, Rika slipped it on. “This place is wonderful!” Rika exclaimed with a smile. She was so weak that she got tangled up in the sleeping furs, and laughed as Renamon helped her up. “And it’s gigantic!”
“I’ll show you around, then. This is the bedroom,” Renamon said, gesturing around the room they were standing in. She took Rika’s hand and led her gently from the pile of furs. There were four other rooms, of which Renamon showed Rika three, a large study, rough kitchen, and large storehouse. The other room was the only one with a real wooden door, which Renamon pulled open easily. “And finally, the bath,” Renamon said with a smile. She led Rika down a carved stone stairway, until they reached a rock cavern with a volcanic heated pool.
“Not bad,” Rika said, trying not to show how delighted she was by it. Renamon led her over to one end of the pool, softly explaining that it was the cooler end, away from the volcanic vent that heated the water and provided warmth for the den itself. Rika hissed a bit, but soon relaxed in the warmth of the slowly flowing water.
Renamon smiled as she watched Rika for a few minutes, then rose with a smile. “Rika, I need to leave you for a little while,” she said, “but you will be safe here. The entrance way is protected by traps, and no one has ever succeeded in breaking in.”
Rika looked up at her a moment then she nodded, accepting what Renamon said. “Just be back soon,” Rika said to her softly, as she watched Renamon’s sleek form walk gracefully up the steps to the bed chamber above.
Renamon swiftly made her way through the bedroom then up and out of the hidden exit passage. She bounced between the trees towards the very edge of the forest, then swooped down to pounce on something that was running across the snow covered field. She struck out once, cleanly, and in a moment the hare was dead.
“You will help another survive,” Renamon told the dead animal softly.
She gently carried it with her until she reached the familiar looking little home. In the safety of the shadows, she saw the grandmother tending to the other woman, Rika’s mother, who looked much better than she had before. Renamon set the rabbit down by the door, tapped on it once, and then was gone before anyone could react.
As Renamon left she could hear the door open, pausing a moment to observe from the shadows. “More meat,” Rika’s Grandmother said, looking out over the snow covered ground. There were no footprints left, no visible trace of any presence having ever been there. “Oh Rika,” she whispered to herself softly, ‘what on Earth is going on?”
Satisfied they were all right Renamon swiftly made her way home, entering the chamber and smiling at the sight of Rika sitting happily atop the bed furs. “It's about time you got here,” a very clean and toasty warm looking Rika said to Renamon cheerfully, carefully sipping another mug full of the delicious tasting hot soup.
Renamon laughed softly, smiling over at Rika. “I see you found the kitchen then,” Renamon said, looking at the mug.
Rika was fully dressed, and had a broad smile on her face. “Thank you for the new boots, by the way,” Rika said, holding up one of her feet encased in snug, supple leather.
“I’m glad you like them,” Renamon said as she walked over to Rika's side. “They will allow you to move much more silently through the woods,” Renamon finished. She had to fight the urge to laugh at the wounded look that Rika gave her.
“I’m not that bad at it,” a blushing Rika said, looking down into her half full cup before taking another drink. She looked towards the study with such a look of intense longing on her face it brought forth a soft chuckle from Renamon.
“Why don’t you go in and look around?” Renamon asked her curiously as she settled down to sit beside the girl.
Rika held up her mug in explaination. “Mother taught me scrolls and drinks do not mix,” she said smiling. “But where did you get so many of them?” Rika asked Renamon eagerly. Just looking through the door there were more scrolls than she had seen in her life!
“In the land I come from, reading is very common. Out here, however...,” Renamon said, and then gave a helpless shrug.
Renamon showed Rika around the study, the many racks of scrolls in their cases and how they were sorted. Rika pulled one down, unrolling it just a bit to read the first few lines, then reverently put it back. Looking around curiously, Rika’s eyes lit up where she saw a popular strategy game sitting there on a table as well.
“I almost think I've died and gone to heaven,” Rika finally sighed. As she and Renamon pulled down various scrolls, Rika was again struck by Renamon’s fierce beauty. Her face was so alive and animated, as she talked about some of the scrolls with such passionate intensity that Rika nearly forgot that Renamon wasn’t human.
In the days following after that soon fell into a regular pattern. Rika and Renamon woke up together in the mornings and one of them would get up to cook their breakfast. Renamon would leave for awhile then shortly return to Rika’s side.
The rest of the morning and into the midafternoon they both spent out in the woods, where Renamon taught Rika the numerous secrets of woods craft as well as exploring and protecting the wild lands together. She soon learned of Renamon’s many magical gifts including her greatest talent: the power of transformation.
With the aid of another’s spirit, Renamon could change her form into one of two others. The giant fox Kyubimon was one, and the robed mystic Taomon was another, each with their own special powers and unique abilities. Quite strangely, with Rika’s willing aid she could transform much easier than she had ever been able to before.
“It’s very strange,” Renamon said to her softly some weeks after Rika'a arrival, “for among my kind it is exceedingly rare to find one whom you have such a deep connection.” She smiled at Rika, “You grant me great strength, Rika, thank you.”
Rika blushed as she said, “I feel the connection, too, sometimes.” The blush darkened, and she quickly changed the subject.
The evenings were spent down in the den, where they would talk for hours, read and play many different games of strategy with each other. They would eat, and Renamon would go out again. Once she came back, they would soon retire to their fur covered bed.
And each and every day on those trips that she took alone, Renamon would deliver fresh meat for breakfast and dinner to Rika’s family, in accordance to the vow that she had made to Rika. She also kept watch over them and anyone that dared cause them any trouble soon learned to deeply regret it. Rika herself did not speak of, or even ask about, her family, but Renamon knew that the young woman thought of them often.
Together, they would shadow the few hunters who were brave or mad enough to dare to come into the woods. As thay shepherd them from the more unusual dangers hidden there, from time to time, one of them would catch a glimpse of Rika or Renamon.
Soon, some tall tales of ‘Rika’s Ghost’ began to circulate in many of the nearby villages and the small towns beyond the forest, to both of their amusement. But Rika realized that the tales would eventually reach her family and cause them a great deal of pain. Finally, half a year after they had first met, when the summer sun finally began to win out over the dark rainclouds of spring, Rika came to Renamon with a question.
“Would it be all right,” Rika softly began, “if I could go home for a day or so? I wonder how my family is, and I want them to know that I’m well and safe.”
“Of course you can,” Renamon said tentatively, knowing that this time would someday come “if you wish, we can go tomorrow morning.” She looked deeply worried, troubled by the painful knowledge that Rika might not choose to return to her.
As if she was reading Renamon’s mind, Rika smiled brightly and firmly said “Of course I’m coming back, you dope!”
Renamon looked at her in surprise, then laughed softly. “Do not be so sure Rika,” Renamon cautioned her. “Family can be difficult to refuse.”
“Maybe,” Rika said intensely, looking up to meet Renamon’s eyes “but I consider you to be part of my family as well.”
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