Red Strings (Xiao x Reader)

Chapter 3 - Hunt

"If you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you shall be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world." —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

(Y/N) loved hunting. It was one of the few skills she had mastered even when she was a mere wild fox, scampering through the snowy slopes of a nation once known as Sal Vindagnyr. Of course, she didn't care for such things back then; to her, territory was territory, whether it held history or not.

Then everything changed. She came across the strange looking being standing before the wilted tree in the mountains. At first, she thought he might have been a human. Yet he had tails. Eight, pure white tails, swaying in the breeze just like her own single one. And those ears on top of his head. Ears that resembled her own. She remembered him turning, his long white robe sweeping across the snow, and peer down at her with almost curious red eyes. She remembered his fingers resting gently on top of her head, a faint glow shrouding them...then darkness. And from that moment, she was no longer just a wild fox, but a beast with sentience. The fox god who had gifted her this consciousness took her in as his disciple, training her, teaching her the arts of the adepti.

She still loved to hunt, however, in between the copious hours of training she had to undertake. She made time. She would practise her newly mastered arts on her prey, trapping them with seals or disguising herself with some spell before swiftly moving in to seal their fate. To hunt was in the nature of a fox, adeptus or not.

(Y/N) had a dream, and that was to eventually achieve absolute immortality and magic and become a Jiuweihu (九尾狐；nine-tailed fox). This was a dream she had developed under the influence of her master, who never spared a single possible moment to seek ways of achieving this great power.

(Y/N) loved to read the scrolls in her master's study, which was surprisingly well decorated considering it was in a cave. Whenever her master was sitting before the small stone table, reading through mountains of scrolls in an attempt to find a way to ascend to nine tails, or practising some new technique, she would find herself curled up in a corner with several scrolls stacked beside her, reading.
"Huxian are adepti who seek to achieve absolute immortality and magic, but never harming a human while doing so."
"It has been widely speculated that Huxian are distantly related to a species of yōkai known as kitsune, who likewise gain a tail every hundred years. However, kitsune do not require training to gain their tails."
"Huxian who attempt to achieve immortality through harmful means will grow more corrupt and vicious. They become known as Huyao."
"There have been cases of foxes who have gained sentience but failed to become adepti. These are known as Hulijing (狐狸精；fox spirit) and are often foxes possessing multiple tails with relatively weaker magic. It is possible for Hulijing to take the form of a human, by ————" (The rest of that page had been ripped out, and despite her curiosity, (Y/N) had never discovered how exactly Hulijing could gain a human form without eight tails.)
"There can be many Huxian, but the head fox is always appointed by the previous leader before he passes. This ritual can only be broken if a Jiuweihu emerges amongst the group, which automatically allows them to take over the role of the current head fox."
Sometimes, she would look up at her master, who would catch her staring and spare her a warm smile even while in the middle of training. (Y/N) had always admired her master, and she had been convinced that he was what she aspired to one day become.

Then he began to change. As far as (Y/N) could recall, his drastic shift in attitude occurred sometime between her sixth and seventh tail. At first, she thought it must just be frustration and exhaustion getting to him, until she found the collection of parchment ripped from various scrolls hidden in a crack along the stone wall.
"...the average mortal's organs are sufficient to significantly boost an adeptus' power level. In particular, the heart is the most effective, but only when consumed while still beating."
"...consuming the organs of ten thousand mortal men, a female Hulijing is able to take the form of a human. And vice versa for male."
"...no nine tailed fox has been recorded for many generations now, as the arts of ascending have been long since destroyed and never rediscovered. Instead, Huxian tend to extend upon their preferred magic instead of attempting to revive the technique."
"...legend has it that when the Great Huxian Yueguang defeated the Huyao Wuzhua, he found the bodies of many mortal women littering the cave, all with their hearts ripped out. It is estimated that Wuzhua had consumed almost 9000 mortal hearts, convinced this would grant him his ninth tail. Yueguang later notes that Wuzhua had in fact shown signs of increased survivability and strength throughout their fight."
"Having fun?" A cold voice made (Y/N) jump up from where she was lying curled up, and she found herself face to face with her master. His blood red eyes pierced into her, and she at once realised what he was doing. Soul reading was a technique he was adept at, and it was different from mind reading in the sense that there was no way to disguise any thoughts or secrets.
"You've met Alatus?" He said finally, his attention refocusing on her.
"Y-yes, master," she replied.
"Interesting. You wish to meet him upon gaining your eighth tail?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Good. Then you shall meet him right here, in this cave. Understood?" He stood up, towering over her tiny fox form.
"Y-yes."

(Y/N) had known that this was bound to go horribly wrong, but when she saw the look of betrayal and shock in those golden eyes that day, it felt like a whole new stab to her heart. She knew Alatus hated her, that no matter how many times she apologised, it would never suffice to make up for her deception. Even so, (Y/N) could only hope that there is a scrap of empathy in his heart, and maybe she would eventually be able to start forgiving herself.

(Y/N) crouched in her human form on the edge of the cliff overlooking the village. She was an expert in hunting, but it will only be a matter of time before the people begin to realise the constant disappearance of young women. But they will be powerless to stop her, and stop her master from achieving his goal.

(Y/N) closed her eyes. The hunt has begun, but it was a hunt she would find no joy in.

Translations:
Yueguang - 月光 （lit. Moon glow)
Wuzhua - 舞爪 （lit. Dancing claws)