jiuweihu: (006)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ "Look at the cage," he says. So he can try to get her... out?

Wariness tries to stay her immediate flicker of excitement and hope. She hasn't completely forgotten about the existence of human kindness, the fact that it exists in the first place, but—

Life has proven to her that she shouldn't expect it.

She goes still as she watches him approach closer, and she lowers herself down – a position that would allow her to spring and snap at him with teeth, if she has to, but one that's arguably more relaxed.

(Watching, instead of trying to struggle away or frighten him off.) ]
jiuweihu: (006)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yan watches his every move for signs of deceit or an attack, but he's... actually doing what he said he would. Her ears perk up as he explains the relative simplicity of the magic on the cage (which, she thinks, means she probably could have broken free with enough force and adrenaline to ignore her paw). Her eyes follow the movement as he reaches for his bag, until he produces the picks, leaving her to (mostly) relax again.

He seems to mostly be speaking to himself, unless he legitimately knows what she is, and while she's sure he isn't expecting a response, she gives a huffed-out growl at the mention of becoming a coat. She genuinely has no idea what would be done with her, specifically, if she was being caught in response to the knight's death; it could also be a case of "wrong place, wrong time" as far as stumbling onto a hunter's trap, but she's close enough to the last town that she wouldn't count out hunters looking for her. ]
jiuweihu: (007)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ As if a show of good faith, Yan lowers her head, resting it on her good paws. She doesn't stop watching him closely, but she doesn't seem to be coiled and ready to strike, either.

She's waiting. Patient. ]
jiuweihu: (007)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yan's ears twitch and perk with the sound of the lock finally giving way, and she lifts her head, eager. Her tails lift and start to flick back and forth, but there's no outward aggression as soon as Peter is pulling the door open for her. She gets to her feet, though her first step forward reminds her of her broken paw and the snare still around her ankle; an unconscious little yelp escapes as she stumbles when she tries to walk out of the cage.

She can only get two steps past the door, and then the snare is stretched taut again. ]
jiuweihu: (006)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ She makes a protesting noise of pain when Peter reaches for the cord, but she doesn't whirl on him with her teeth. She lowers to the ground again, putting less pressure on the snare as she waits for Peter to sort it out.

Yan is still terrified (because how can she not be?), and she's watching him with a well-deserved wariness, but she's also lost the prepared edge that had left her ready to pounce on him, to take a finger or three if he'd made to betray her tentative trust. ]
jiuweihu: (006)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ The mention of a weasel is enough to pique Yan's interest, because she knows the creatures that live in this forest.

(The gold-faced marten? she has to wonder. They're rare, sought-after, and she wouldn't be surprised if this man had been searching for one.)

She doesn't yip, chitters softly instead, quizzical almost, but she's tensing when she sees him draw his dagger. She isn't gearing up to attack, but it's never wise to stay at ease around a deadly weapon. Her worries are misplaced, and he's going for whatever holds the snare. She watches as he starts to scrape at the magic – still, patient but on edge, Yan waits.

Finally, after the rune is disrupted properly, the cord melts away in a spark of magic dissipating – to leave behind a dark, black mark in the fur of Yan's paw.

A tracking rune.

Yan immediately gets to her feet, holding her paw up to keep weight off of it – which severely hinders how she moves, but she's at least standing as she watches Peter with his dagger. ]
jiuweihu: (007)

the w o r s t

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Yan can see the way Peter is still looking at her paw, and she turns her head, tentatively lifting her foot to see the mark standing starkly on her fur.

Oh no.

She glances away from the mark, looking up at Peter, and when she chitters again, she nods – a very clear agreement. ]
jiuweihu: (006)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Yan chirrups, taking a careful, hopping step to the side as she watches Peter—

—and nods again.

Definitely a nod. ]
jiuweihu: (012)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-13 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ”What are you?”

If it’s possible for a fox to convey something so specific, the way her lips curl and her muzzle wrinkles almost tries to imply, ”Are you that clueless?” She flares out her nine tails, flicking them back and forth demonstratively.

Foxwoman. Nine-tailed. Huli jing. There were plenty of names in far too many languages to count.

She watches Peter for a half-beat more, and then takes a couple of hobbling steps away to find the cover of a bush. She sits, mindful of her paw, and then, in a shifting of silver light—

—changes.

A woman close to Peter’s age sits behind the bush, her knees drawn up to her chest to cover herself as she minds her obviously broken foot – with its black rune still in place. ]


Is this more obvious for you?
jiuweihu: (002)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-14 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ If she wasn't in so much pain, she might actually find his reaction entertaining. He looks like someone just splashed cold water into his face, and he's stumbling trying to find an answer she'd thought was clear from the beginning.

Apparently not. ]


Huli jing.

[ She offers it with some measure of patience, wincing as she shifts her pained foot. ]

... Do you have a shirt or a cloak, maybe?

[ Yan usually goes about finding clothes when she reaches a village, for the sake of others' sense of modesty. Huli jing aren't typically bothered by nudity, like many creatures that live in nature – where weather conditions allow.

But she's also sitting in her human form, in front of a human right now.

It's a little awkward. ]
jiuweihu: (068)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-14 06:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yan takes rapid stock of the amount of weapons he's carrying. It's not comforting, knowing how outgunned she is right now, especially with her broken ankle, but the human also isn't being outwardly aggressive, and he's almost... polite?

This is weird.

Yan accepts the coat, giving it a brief sniff (animalistic habit) before she wraps the garment around her shoulders.

... It's massive, comparatively, but that makes it easier to cover herself. ]


Thanks.

[ She sounds sincere (she is). ]

You helped me – a lot.
jiuweihu: (085)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-14 07:01 am (UTC)(link)
"If you'd known."

[ She repeats it under her breath with a disgruntled little huff, looking away from him as she bristles. She's used to humans with one of two reactions to her, if they know what she is: desire, for her worth or her appearance, or distaste, for conceptions and biases they happen to have about her race.

She's not surprised by it, at this point.

Shifting, trying not to strain her ankle, she keeps the jacket closed around her as she moves onto her knees. ]


Yes— [ Stubbornness forces her to try pushing herself up, and she tries to grab onto the bush for support—

But attempting to pull herself up on one foot without much to hold her weight leaves her to collapse back onto her knees with a bitten-off cry. ]
jiuweihu: (083)

[personal profile] jiuweihu 2019-09-14 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ She doesn't flinch when he touches her shoulder, but it's close. She looks up to his face, then down to the hand he offers her—

Gods, he's right. Staying here isn't an option, and shifting back into her fox form might be faster, but only just. And with that tracking rune...?

She has no idea how to get out of this mess, but it seems like accepting the help of a stranger, reluctant as it may be, is her only option. Finally, she nods, reaching for his hand. Her fingers curl around his, and she leans her weight into him as she hauls herself up onto her good foot. She wavers slightly, but she holds onto his hand, her other keeping his coat closed around her. ]


Where are we going?

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