Lanius balanced himself on the tree's branch by freezing the bottom of his boots on it and stabbing the trunk with his right hand's icy claws. With his right hand, he gripped the fox's hanbok by the front, as she was about to fall off as well. The fox in response grabbed the young man by the wrist that was holding her with both of her hands the moment she understood that she was about to fall. Her eyes then widened and her face reddened as she realised what part the young man was holding.
Lanius saw her reaction and helped her up, before he let go of her. The fox look straight at his eyes and so did he, and the two awkwardly looked at each other for a minute.
Lanius then grit his teeth as he touched his side as the pain finally came. The fox noticed that and gave him some space.
The branch was wide enough for both of them to sit comfortably, and so they did. Lanius tightened the bandages on his torso and waist in order to keep the cracked ribs steady. The fox was silently looking at him treat himself, tho the Winter was keeping an eye on her in case she tried to take that opportunity to flee. Once he was done, he looked at her for a few minutes. The fox turned her head towards the sun and began chewing on her fingernails, seemingly feeling awkward.
"Why do you keep on stalking me?" the young man finally broke the silence. His tone wasn't threatening at all, instead sounding rather interested.
The fox looked straight in his eyes. Lanius hesitated for a moment and continued. "Is my soul that important to you?"
The fox did not reply, instead, her ears flopped back. She then lowered her head and looked down, towards the ground.
Lanius went silent for a few minutes and simply watched the sun rise, painting the horizon orange. At that moment, Freida also woke up.
"Good morning Lanius...where the hell are we?" as she woke up and saw through the young mans eyes that they were on a tree.
"Morning...we're about ten metres above the ground on a tree, next to the vastaya that tried to steal my soul, quite far away from where I stopped for the night." Lanius though.
"I see...and what happened to you? You got a broken rib, two cracked ones and your left hip is badly bruised. Did you fall off a tree?" the spirit asked.
Lanius filled his mouth with air and exhaled slowly. " A bloody prophet, ain't you?" he replied as a stinging pain flashed through his torso. The fox's ears then turned towards the young man and her head soon followed.
She yet again examined his face but didn't speak.
"I think you owe me an answer, fox girl." Lanius said. Why do you keep on following me?" he pressed on.
"Well...its about my nature. Its like an addiction... I need to consume souls, otherwise I'll go mad." she said, avoiding the young man's gaze. "And you...were going to become another victim. But... I couldn't suck your soul out...and..."
"And?" the young man clearly showed signs of interest.
"And then...a new feeling, a thousand times better than the one that I felt when I consumed souls struck me. And I just wanted to experience it again....and again." she finally confessed.
Lanius did not reply, instead he had a skeptical expression on his face. The fox on the other hand looked more anxious and embarrassed as time passed.
"So...supposedly speaking, my feeling works as a substitute to consuming souls. And supposedly you'd also stop hunting others" Lanius tried to guess.
"Supposedly...yes?" the fox replied, being slightly unsure.
"Very well...let's get down then." The Winter said these words and climbed down, prompting the fox to follow him. If climbing up was a bit hard, getting down with these injuries was ten times harder.
Lanius frowned and grit his teeth with each step as the damaged ribs slightly shifted, even if the bandages were tightly secured. At a point, he hugged the trunk with all his strength as he felt like he would pass out from the pain. The fox grabbed his right hand as a slight support method, a move that confused him further.
As they reached the ground, Lanius leaned against the giant tree for a few seconds.
"I think you need a drastic solution." the Spirit of the Winter told him inside his brain.
Lanius did not reply, and instead touched the places that the wounded ribs were situated. A thin, yet strong layer of ice covered the cracked places and connected the broken rib, acting as makeshift casts.
"Much better." Both the spirit and the Winter thought.
He then walked towards his coat and kusarigama, picked up the coat and wore it.
"And how do you know that I won't run away this time?" the fox asked him.
"Simple, I know that you won't do that , because I also know the reason behind you following me. There is no point in you fleeing, as you'd simply lose an opportunity to get intoxicated again." the young man pointed out as he clipped his weapons chain on his belt.
The fox looked dumbfounded. She didn't have a reply for this. Instead she brushed her hair with her right hand and looked back at him, feeling suspicious.
"Why do you do this!?" she raised her voice.
"I stalk, attack, stunt and try to steal your soul...and you're eager to help me? Why?! What human acts like these! ? Towards vastaya?!" she then sat down on the grass.
"First of all, I'm not a human, I'm a vastaya myself...at least a half vastaya." Lanius pointed first at his eyes, then markings and then teeth, followed by emitting a sharp chirp similar to a cats. "Second, if it will help prevent any more human deaths, I'm willing to do this....besides...you yourself don't want this, you're just forced to do it."
Ahri swallowed and then nodded. "And what exactly do we do now?"
"For now...just get your dose." Lanius walked towards her way and sat down in front of her.
The fox's eye lit and her pupils enlarged in ecstasy. Her nine tails opened like a fan as she quickly held the young mans head with both of her hands. Lanius yey again felt for a split second as if he was being electrocuted. That feeling was soon replaced by a stronger feeling of euphoria mixed with a bit of pain, but enjoyable pain.
"You never got...to tell me...your name..." The Winter said as he closed his eyes. For reasons he didn't understand at that moment, he wanted this feeling to last for ever. He could hear Freida chuckle at the back of his head, yet he currently ignored her voice.
The fox's head darted back and the same chirping sound that she produced during their last encounter parted her lips again.
"My...name?" she said in between chirps. "It's....Ahri."