Eun-Ae
Sleeping was pointless as the aches and pains in my leg grew. I was sweating as my fever continued to rise. "Poison. There was poison on that arrow. That bastard." I groaned, rolling over onto my side panting.
I gazed up at the entryway and noticed the sun was on the rise. I figured I could take a quick dip in the pond nearby to cool myself down. Shifting, I stretched my front legs forward and kicked my back legs out one at a time.
"Well, here goes nothing." I trotted outside and immediately took a left toward the little pond, and walked right in without hesitation. I was not caring that the water was ice cold.
I could almost hear my skin sizzle as I cooled down. I hissed in delight as I laid down in the shallow end. "Oh, that's nice." I purred. Closing my eyes, I sat there for a moment in peace.
"Eun-Ae! You need to run!" Mo-ra shouted as she sprinted past me in her animal form.
My ears perked up as my eyes followed her form. Quickly disappearing from my sight. "Run from what?" I scoffed. "I can't go anywhere, not in my condition."
The slow trot of a horse's hooves through the grass caused my ear to shift to the right of me as I kept my head low to the surface of the pond. "Who the hell is here?"
I watched as a black stallion appeared in my peripherals. I froze as my gaze locked with its rider. It was him… the asshole, that shot me with the arrow.
I slowly rose from the water and walked back to the dry land before shaking the excess water from my fur.
"Hey! Stop that!" The man shouted.
I chuckled and chittered at him. "What are you doing here?" I couldn't understand if he knew what I was saying. His response surprised me.
He dismounted from his horse and slowly approached me. Again, his hands were held out in a non-threatening manner. "I needed to see if you were okay. I couldn't sleep knowing I had hurt you."
I groaned and shifted back into my human form, immediately wrapping my tails around me to cover my nakedness. "I-I am not okay. Whatever was on the tip of that arrow… it… it made me sick. I can't heal." I weakly screamed.
I watched as his eyes widened. "Y-you really are a kumiho…"
"Were you really expecting anything else? What kind of actual creature has nine tails? I haven't seen a white fox besides my parents and they are long gone." I glared at him.
A sharp pain cut through my thigh and up towards my back, causing me to cry out in pain. I fell to my knees, gripping my leg.
"Why did you do this? I didn't do anything to you or your kingdom." I cried.
The man quickly approached me and lifted the tail that concealed my thigh. He winced as he pulled off the soiled bandage. "This is going to get infected if it goes untreated. L-let me take you back to the palace. I can have my medicine man take a look at it."
I pushed the man away and shook my head, "No, I'm not going to the palace. My friends are stuck there. Everyone I know is stuck there."
The man fell on his backside with a thud. I slowly turned my head toward him and saw the horror in his eyes, "All of those shifters… are your friends?"
I nodded, only for my head to begin spinning. My vision blurred as my fever rose as I panted, my body collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Unsure of how much time had passed. I groaned. I was in a room of some sort, and the scents here were not my own, let alone any that I recognized, except the Kings.
"Wh-where am I?" I whispered, pushing myself up from a plush bed. I rolled onto my side and slowly opened my eyes, letting out a heavy huff of air.
"Hey hey, take it easy… I brought you to the palace." A familiar voice sounded from beside me as a hand pressed against my forehead. "At least your fever is gone."
I turned my head, looking over my shoulder at the man, and to my surprise, it was undoubtedly the King, Dae-Hyun. "Why would you bring me here?"
"Because you fainted. Whatever was on that arrow caused you to fall ill and I… I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I killed the last kum-"
I raised my hand to silence him. "Don't… please don't. I just wanted to live my life in peace." I wrapped my arms around myself and lowered my head to see that I was wearing a hanbok. My hanbok. The one I left at the lake. "Where did you find this?" I asked as I turned my body to face him. "I thought I lost this. Where did you find it?"
Dae-Hyun sighed, "I didn't find it. Someone else did. Which means someone is looking for you." He rubbed the back of his neck and rose.
"Wait, where are you going? You can't just leave me here!" I shouted, trying to push myself up from the floor. A sharp pain shot through my leg, causing me to moan in pain. "What… what did you do to my leg?"
"It was infected. It's cleaned and properly dressed now. My medicine man will be coming by to check on it in a little while. I have something I need to attend to."
I closed my eyes and ignored the pain the best I could. Using my good leg, I propped myself up against the wall and took a limping step toward the door. "I am not staying here. I can't. They will kill me."
Dae-Hyun stepped in front of me. He placed his hands on either side of my arms. "They won't do anything to you. Not unless I tell them to and right now the last thing I want is for any harm to come to you."
I rose on my tiptoe and leaned into his ear, letting out a low growl. "You are the reason I am hurt to begin with."
"I know. And I'll never forgive myself if something else were to happen, so you'll be staying here until your leg gets better. Then I'll escort you back to your home and make sure no one ever finds that place."
I was appalled by his response. This man's guilt was eating at him over someone he didn't even know. He wasn't like his father in any way, shape, or form. Pulling away from him, I gazed into his eyes. "Y-you'd do that for me?"
He nodded his head and gave me a tight-lipped smile. "I would. Because I am not my father. Harming others solves nothing and my mother raised me to be a gentle and loved ruler by trust. Not by forcing anyone's hand let alone war."
"I do not want to be here. I just want to go back home." I slumped my shoulders and made a limping turn toward the bed.
"I-I know this is a strange question but, can you tell me your name? I do not know what else to call you…."
I pulled the ribbon on my hanbok loose upon reaching the bed and slipped out of my top, revealing my upper back. I glanced over my shoulder at him, "Eun-ae." I replied before pulling the tie on my skirt. The heavy silk dropped to the floor as the only thing concealing my body was my flaring tails and hair.
"What are you doing?" He shouted.
I shrugged my shoulders and shifted into my fox form. "I don't have the energy to stay in human form right now." I hopped onto the bed.
"Wait, when was the last time you ate?" He asked as I curled into a ball in the center of the mattress.
Resting my head on my paws, I gazed at him, "Depends on what kind of food you are referring to." I chatted at him. I smirked as his eyes widened. I hissed in pleasure, watching him become more and more uncomfortable.
He reached up and scratched the back of his head nervously. "I uh. I mean whatever it is you eat."
"It's been weeks." I replied quickly before turning my head away from him and closed my eyes.
"What? Weeks? How are you surviving?" He shouted, causing me to lower my ears.
"Small rodents, the occasional vegetables I do manage to find but it's not what I need to sustain myself let alone my appetite."
The door squeaked open and shut quickly, indicating that he had left the room. I sighed as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. There is no reason for me to be awake and anxious. I might as well make use of my time here and sleep.