Chapter 4
“WHERE IS SHE?!” I yell at the guard standing in front of me.
“I’m sorry General Eldrindel! I don’t know where she is! She was here the last time I checked!” the guard stutters. I glare at the guard intensely. He whimpers.
“Have you seen Harvey?” I say slowly.
“N-No… I-I haven’t seen him since yesterday...” he stumbles over his words. I growl under my breath and push past the guard. I walk into the guarding station and walk down the bunker isles. I open Harvey’s door and find him not there. I slam the door and everyone turns to me.
“Where… is… HARVEY?!” I yell at everyone. They stare at me and cower.
“None of us have seen him since yesterday...” says one of the guards slowly. I walk out and start searching everywhere for Harvey. I have the sudden realization that Harvey probably helped the princess escape and that he ran away with her. I scream out loud and destroy the closest table to me. I start laughing.
“Hah… why didn’t I realize this sooner? I guess I shouldn’t have trusted that man!” I laugh to myself. I curse loudly. I stop laughing and frown. ‘I guess I will have to find them myself…’ I think to myself. I turn to see a guard staring at me.
“You got a problem, sir?!” I growl at him.
“N-No, sir!” the guard shakes. I walk to my bunker to start putting on my armor. I pick up my sword, a long thin sword with an extremely sharp blade. I had put a spell on it so it couldn’t break. I stared at my reflection on the sword’s blade. My ears had dropped due to my anger. I grinned. I’ll catch her again. She’s too weak to fight me. That stupid princess can’t even control her magic...

Chapter 3
A young guard walks into the dungeon. I lift my head and yap at him. He isn’t wearing that much armor. He has thin brown eyes, glossy black hair, and dark skin. His hair is swept back. He opens a small door at the bottom of my cell door and tosses a bag in. I snatch the bag and open it. It has two medium-sized fish in it, and a block of cheese. I look up at him with wide eyes.
“I’m sorry. That’s all I could sneak into this dungeon,” He gestures to the bag. I purr gratefully and eat my meal.
“Why are you helping me?” I question his intentions.
“I don’t hate you. I don’t know why everyone hates foxes... Some guards weren’t told why. We were just told to capture any Yokais in sight,” he sighs softly.
“I’ll try to get you out of here when I have the chance, but I need a plan,” He says. I devour my meal. I haven’t had any food for a long time. The Yokais I freed must have escaped because I haven’t seen any foxes in this dungeon ever since.
“I need to go now,” The man says. He steps towards the door.
“Wait! I… What’s your name?” I croak.
“I’m not really supposed to tell you, but I guess I can make an exception. My name is Harvey,” He answers. He walks out of the door. I whine softly. Another guard walks in. He looks mean. I hide the bag in the cell’s corner. He slams his hand on the bars and scowls. He opens the cell and walks in slamming the door behind him. I back into the corner and growl loudly. He grabs my neck and punches my face. I whimper softly.
“I finally get to beat you up!” He scoffs.
“Stop,” Commands a harsh but dangerous voice. I howl loudly at the guard who hit me. I see a full armored soldier. Or is he a general? He is holding his helmet in his arms. He is young but looks older than Harvey. His eyes are red, and his hair a bloody red and goes down to his neck. His skin is pure white. He has a sun symbol on his forehead and his ears are long and pointed. He’s a sun elf. But why is a sun elf here? The guard growls and backs away from me. The elf’s eyes are fierce and sharp. They pierce through me like daggers. The guard leaves the cell and glares at the elf. The elf walks into the cell slowly. His walk is smooth. He squats in front of me. He lifts my chin and looks me in the eyes.
“A princess. That’s unusual…” He notes. He examines my face. He reaches behind me and gets a hold on my wing. He pulls my wing out and stretches it out. I look at his face. It’s very thin. “A goddess too,”, he remarks. I whimper. He stands up and leaves my cell. He locks it and walks away. Why is an elf here?
I wake up and yawn. I wait to see if Harvey will show up, but he never appears. I claw at the metal band around my neck. I had realized before that this band prevents me from using my powers. I hear the creaky noise of a door opening slowly. I back into the shadows of my cell. I hear the sun elf talking to someone. I hear the voice of the other person and realize that it’s Harvey. I don’t say anything because I don’t want Harvey to seem suspicious to the elf general. Harvey glances at me and looks away.
“Have you met our prisoner yet?” The elf asks.
“Only once,” Harvey replies.
“I see...” The elf general looks over to me and grins. “Why hello there, Your Highness,” He sneers.
“I’m gonna rip your face off once I get out of here!” I retort. The elf laughs a soft laugh, but it’s a dangerous laugh. It makes me uneasy. I shiver and wrap my wings around me.
“Here, eat this!” The elf throws a fish skeleton at me and then laughs. I pick it up and throw it back at his face, but he catches it quickly. He must have good reflexes. He frowns at me. Harvey looks worried, but he snaps back to a straight face as soon as the elf looks at him.
“Let’s go,” says the elf. Harvey looks back at me as he’s leaving and has a sad look in his eyes. I prowl around the cell walking in a circle. Anger boils up inside me and I scream. I scratch the wall with my claws and I breathe heavily. Harvey walks in again carrying another bag. He tosses it in. I snatch the bag.
“Sorry, that took so long. I got held up,” He apologizes. “I had no idea you were a princess!”
“It’s fine. Thank you.” I say. I ponder for a second. “What’s the name of the elf general?” I ask.
“Oh, him? His name is Eldrindel, General Eldrindel. He’s very scary,” Harvey replies. He has a look of fear in his eyes. “I hate being around him, but he trusts me, so I can usually do what I want. I can figure out a way to get you out of here with his help, but he won’t even know he’s helping. I can trick him,” he explains.
“So that’s how you plan on helping me escape. I see... That is a good option,” I say. I start digging into the food he brought me. It’s another block of cheese, but in the bag is also some bread.
“Is there a way to get this metal band off my neck so I can use my magic again?” I query.
“Yes, there is, but I need the keys. I can get those easily, and then we can escape.” He answers.
“We? You mean you’re going with me?” I exclaim.
“Yes, I need to get out of here. I hate this place.” He says in a disgusted tone.
“When are we leaving?” I ask.
“In two days, I think.” He says. I smile at him and he smiles back.
“I have to go now…” He says, “I’ll see you soon” He waves goodbye. I watch him leave and then I curl up on the cold stone floor.
I wait for two days to pass. I haven’t seen Harvey since, but I can’t wait to escape with him. I need some company anyways.
Harvey walks in the door with the keys. He grins at me and I brighten up. He unlocks my cells and I scurry out. Then he unlocks the band on my neck and it falls off. I catch it so it doesn’t hit the floor and make noise. He goes out the back and distracts the guards, making them go somewhere else. Harvey grabs my arm and takes me outside. I’m so happy to be in the sun again.
“We should start getting away before they come back,” Harvey says.
“I can’t fly yet. So I guess running is our only option.” I say. He starts running and I follow him. He goes around the back of the building and out into a field. We start running again and we get farther and farther away from the village.
“We should go to my kingdom for safety,” I say.
“Good idea, Princess Luna.” He replies. We run in the direction of the forest. We decide to take a break and stop near the edge of the forest before we enter. The forest looms before us, looking ominous unlike other times. I turn into my fox form and curl up next to him. He lies down in the grass and drifts asleep. I soon fall asleep too.
We wake up the next morning and go on our way. I lead him into the forest. I’m going to have to figure out where to go from here. He looks at me in confusion.
“Where do we go now?”
“I’m trying to figure that out...” I say under my breath. I decide I’m going to try a trick my mother taught me I can use if I ever got lost. I didn’t remember I had learned it the first time I got lost in the forest. I place my hands down on the ground and concentrate. I can feel the magic everywhere, and the emotions and feelings of the plants and animals all around me. I go deeper into the forest and sense more and more life. There are different kinds of emotions in that area. I stand up again and head in the direction of where I felt all that life and emotion. Harvey follows me and looks around in curiosity. We walk through the quiet forest as quickly as possible. I just want to get home. Harvey whimpers as a sudden noise of rustling in the undergrowth frightens him. I turn my head in the direction of the noise and growl. I can sense something is there, but I can't tell what it is. Harvey backs up and trips over a branch. Just as he trips, an elf jumps out of the undergrowth and attacks Harvey. I yowl and leap at the elf. The elf shrieks as I sink my claws into his back. He swivels around with such force that I fly off of his back. I screech as I crash into a tree. The elf charges and swings at me with a knife. I spread my wings and leap over him. I glide to the ground safely and turn around to deflect another attack by the elf. The elf hits the ground with a thud as I knock him over.
“Stand down!” I demand. Being the princess, I am allowed to give orders to almost anyone. The elf sits upon the ground and glares at me, but then realizes who I am. He has a horrified look on his face as he realizes who he just attacked.
The elf has bright blue skin and glistening dark blue hair. His eyes are bright pink. The elf’s hair is swept back and he has a slim build. He wears a white vest and black pants. I notice he’s a rainbow elf, one of the three kinds of elves.
“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry, Your Highness! I did not know it was you!” He stammers. Harvey stands behind me in a guarding position, but then he changes to a neutral pose as he hears the elf.
“Well… you should be more cautious next time, and pay attention to who you’re attacking!” I yell at him. “You could have killed me!”
“My apologies! I saw the human and thought you were intruders!” He exclaims.
“Alright, I forgive you, but you must escort us to the Celestial Kingdom so I may return safely! I’ve already been captured and I don’t want that to happen again!” I demand. He nods his head and jumps up immediately. He takes my hand and kisses it, then he proceeds to bow. I laugh at him. “You really don’t need to bow to me, sir. Besides, I never got your name!” I exclaim. His cheeks become a darker shade of blue.
“Ah, I’m so sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Myrel,” He replies. He then proceeds to walk into the undergrowth. “Follow me...” He says. Harvey and I follow Myrel to the Kingdom. Harvey squeals as a green Energy Eater, a small lustrous dragon that eats energy, scurries by. Myrel stops and looks at Harvey in confusion then keeps walking.
An hour later, we arrive at the kingdom and enter the market. Yokais see me and then proceed to gasp and cheer, “The princess is back! The princess is safe!” They holler. I wave politely and stroll through the market with Harvey and Myrel. I curl my tail around my leg. I hear a lot of chatter and whispering. I arrive at the castle’s front and the guards hurry to open the gates. I inhale as the gate begins to open. Once the gate is open, we enter the castle. I open the door and rush to my mother. Mother gasps as I hug her tightly. I burst into tears.
“Luna, my dear! You’re alright!” She wails. I purr softly as Mother hugs me.
“Luna!” I recognize Player’s voice. He runs over and hugs me. He pulls away from me. “Are you alright?!” He queries. I nod my head.
“Thanks to Harvey, I escaped that dreaded prison!” I motion to Harvey and he waves. Mother looks at Harvey and growls.
“A HUMAN?!” She screams. “WHAT... IS A HUMAN... DOING HERE? DIDN’T THEY TRY TO KILL YOU?!” She wails.
“No! I know not all humans are bad! He’s a good human! He helped me!” I retort. Harvey whimpers as my mother glares at him. Myrel steps in and Mother growls at him too.
“Another one?! You keep bringing strangers into the castle!” Mother screeches. Myrel backs up slowly.
“He helped us get back to the castle!” I say. Avi walks over to Myrel to greet the fellow elf. Myrel smiles. Mother then scowls at Myrel and he cowers in fear at my Mother’s anger. Mom can be pretty scary when she’s mad. Her eyes become cold thin slits when she’s angry. Sometimes, she even bares her fangs. Myrel steps backward and Avi pats him on the back. Avi had to stay in the castle while I was stuck in the dungeon, so he probably had to put up with my mother. I flinch at the thought of Avi having to put up with my mother getting mad at him. I yawn softly and Mother looks over to me.
“My goodness! You must be tired! I must get you to bed!” My mother squeaks. She drags me out of the throne room and up to my room.
I step into my room. They must have changed it since I ran away in case I did return. I would not fit in my old bed. The walls are light blue and the bedsheets are a mix of blue and white. The curtains on the windows are sky blue. The windows slide out to reveal a big balcony. I look back at my mother.
“Do you like it?” she says softly.
“Yes.” I smile. Mother then smiles back at me.
“Get some rest, my dear. I will plan a family reunion for tomorrow. We never got to have a proper one.” she says. Mother walks out of my room and closes the door.
I’m glad we’ll get a proper reunion. I haven’t seen my parents, Serena and Solace, in a long time. I haven’t seen my brothers either. I change into a nightgown I found folded on my bed. It was white and glittered in the moonlight. I tuck myself in and lay in bed. I lay awake for a while and think of what I’ll do to help my people. I realize that I only saw Player when I walked into the castle. Where were Nora and Agartha? Maybe they were resting, but why did they leave me in the prison? Why didn’t they come and help me? Maybe they got stuck and they couldn’t get in? I ponder the many reasons my friends didn’t or couldn’t help me. I eventually drift to sleep.

Chapter 2
I’m walking in the forest when I see a Fox Yokai with wavy white hair that sparkles like snow. I hide behind a tree and watch her. She sits down in a patch of colorful flowers. I gasp. Is that really Luna? The girl startles at the noise of my gasp and turns around, then I see her blue eyes. I hide my head behind the tree.
“I wish Avi were here. He could help me navigate the forest,” she says to herself. I freeze at the mention of my name. It’s really her. I walk out from behind the tree.
“Luna,”
…
I turn around at my name, startled. A tall Moon elf, a young man is standing behind me. He has freckles and messy ginger hair. His eyes are as green as an emerald. It’s Avi! What a coincidence. I jump up and hug him. He smiles.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were leaving for good!” he says.
I pull away from him. “No, something’s wrong,” I say solemnly.
“What is it?”
“All the humans hate Fox Yokais! They’re imprisoning them and starving them! I don’t know why! They throw rocks at them and they hurt them!” I babble. I start crying.
“What?! That’s terrible!” He pulls me into his arms and strokes my hair, trying to calm me down.
“Please help me deliver this message to my Kingdom. I need to warn them!” I plead.
“Of course I’ll help you! I’ve helped you once before and I’ll do it again!” he exclaims. Avi leads me in the direction of the Kingdom.
We arrive at the edge of my Kingdom. I walk into the main street, a wide street with shops and markets that leads straight to the entrance of the castle. Everyone gasps and looks in awe and amazement as I walk through the crowd. They all form a path for me.
“The Princess has returned!” they yell. Somebody throws a flower at me. I catch it and smile. We arrive at the entrance.
“Halt!” commands a guard.
“Wait a minute,” says the second guard. He walks up to me and sniffs.
“Oh my god… that’s the Princess!” the guard exclaims. They open the gate as fast as possible. I walk into the empty room and through the door that has always led to the throne room. I open the door slowly and step in. My mother, Serena, and my father, Solace, sit on their thrones. My brothers stand in the back. My mother’s eyes widen. She jolts out of her throne, runs over to me and hugs me tightly.
“I’ve missed you so much! Where have you been all these years? Wow, you have grown up so much!” she purrs. Tears water in her eyes making them look glassy. Father walks up to me and hugs me gently.
“Why? Why did you leave us?” he queries. My brothers scurry over. I yap as my eldest brother, Zeke leaps onto me in delight. Damien, my second eldest brother cries and hugs me. I hug them back and smile.
“I have come to warn you about what’s occurring outside of the forest. Many humans hate Fox Yokais now and I don’t know why. They beat them and imprison them in dungeons. I wish I knew why this is happening. I want you to know that you should be careful and also warn the society,” I explain.
“My goodness! What has befallen these humans?” she exclaims. My family has a startled look on their faces.
“You haven't had your empowering ceremony,” says Zeke. The ceremony of empowering is a ritual for a god or goddess to move to the next level of power development. His arms are crossed. My parents look at me and nod their heads in agreement.
“She should have it now,” says my father. My mother agrees.
“It might help me save them,” I say. My mother's eyes widen.
“You mean you will actually go out there?!” she yaps. I nod my head.
My mother sighs, “Do what you must.”
She takes me to the empowering room. She hands me a sparkling crystal orb. Little lights flicker inside of it. The light of the surrounding room dances on the orb’s surface. She motions to the glass circle in the center of the room. I walk into the center of the circle.
“Break it,” She points to the crystal orb I am holding. I drop it on the floor and it shatters. The little lights inside it escape. They swirl and dance around my legs. I start to glow and I rise into the air. The lights start to crash into me. I can feel my hair grow longer and I can feel something happen with my eyes. I feel something sprout out of my back. Pain spreads through my back and I howl, but the pain disappears right away. Suddenly on my chest, a crescent moon inside a glowing sun appears. My right arm glows a sunny bright color in reds and yellows. My left arm glows silver and blue. Patterns and ruin markings appear and travel up my arms and connect to the marking on my chest. The glowing starts to fade and I slowly descend to the floor. My markings disappear as I touch the floor lightly. I feel a bit dizzy and stumble over. My brothers catch me.
“Oh wow. Your eyes grew lighter, and your hair is longer,” Zeke says.
“You have wings!” Damien exclaims. That explains why my mother has wings. She also had an empowering ceremony, and so has my father.
“It’s complete,” my mother smiles. I flutter my white feathery wings. They sparkle like my hair. Avi walks into the room and gasps.
“Wow… You look… different.” His cheeks are pink. My mother turns to him and hisses. Then she turns to me.
“Who is this man? Do you know him? What is he doing in the castle?!” she yowls.
“Mom! It’s ok! He’s my friend!” I reassure her. She calms down and apologizes to Avi. Avi smiles. Mother takes me by the arm and takes me up a flight of stairs. We are going to tell society about what’s happening. We walk through a door and onto a balcony with a horn on it. My mother blows the horn. Everyone gathers below as quickly as possible. My mother flies down with her majestic wings and lands on a pavilion. I haven’t learned to fly yet, so I spread my wings and jump off. I glide down slowly. She announces the news to the civilians and subjects. They all gasp and yowl and cry out. They have fear and anger on their faces.
“You must go now and help our people with your friends,” says my mother. I nod. She whistles loudly. Suddenly, I hear the flapping of wings. A white dragon with colorful eyes and white halo feathers lands right next to me. “Take Ovirus with you,” she says. I climb onto Ovirus’s back. Ovirus takes off and heads in the direction of the edge of the forest.
We are flying, and I tell Ovirus to land near a village. I jump off of Ovirus and tell him to go back to the kingdom. I see a grey figure and realize that it’s Agartha. I pull the hood of my cloak over my head so no one can see my ears. I walk over to Agartha and tap her shoulder. She turns around quickly as if about to attack.
“Shhhhh, it’s just me,” I reassure her.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re alright!” she says.
We sneak to the dungeon of this village and knock out the guards easily. Everything is going smoothly. I unlock some cells and Agartha unlocks the rest that contain Yokais. They purr and chatter and they all escape through the back door, which was unguarded at the time. We leave this village and go to the next village. Player and Nora will meet us there. We arrive at the village. This is a big village, so the dungeon must be big. That means more Fox Yokais may be imprisoned there. We free the ones in this village successfully without getting caught. I keep my hood on and don’t reveal anything about my empowering ceremony yet. I felt stronger after the ceremony. We go from village to village and free the Yokais. The day ends slowly, but we have only been to five villages today. We’ll go to more tomorrow.
At night, we set up a camp not far from our next destination, one of the biggest villages we know about, Silkflower. Silkflower is named after its most popular plant. Silkflowers constantly produce silk, so the village has a constant supply of silk. I summon a tent that will fit all four of us. I pull off my cloak and reveal my new look. They gasp. I spread my wings to their full wing length, which is slightly bigger than my height. I am shorter than most people, but that is just the anatomy of female Fox Yokais. They are usually smaller than male Yokais, but they are faster and more agile. That’s an advantage.
“Wow! I was wondering what was up with your back!” exclaims Player.
“I noticed something was off with you,” Agartha states. Nora just looks at me in awe, her mouth agape. We proceed to go to sleep without dinner. We have nothing to eat anyways.
I wake to find everyone asleep.
“Guys! Wake up! We have to go!” I pester my sleeping friends. They wake slowly as I pack everything up into my magical storage, which I can open to see what’s in it. I put my cloak on and pull the hood over my head.
“I hope no one notices I’m a fox,” I say.
“Just flatten your ears and no one will tell,” Nora suggests.
“What about my tail and wings? Everyone will see my wings for sure! Maybe I can curl my tail and no one will notice?” I panic. Agartha blinks at me. I can tell she’s thinking hard because she has this look on her face. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she’s squinting.
“I don’t think there is anything we can do. We will just have to hope no one really takes notice of it,” Agartha says. I let out a whimper of fear. What if everyone finds out? What if they try and hurt me again? All sorts of thoughts and ideas float through my head about what can happen. I’ll just have to hope things turn out okay.
We head into the village. I hide my wings and tail as best as I can. Some people stare at me, but they turn back to their chatter. The village is bustling with activity. Shops and stands are everywhere. People go about their business. They haven’t noticed anything strange about me yet. Good, let’s hope it stays that way. We head towards the dungeon. I know where it is because there is always a fresh scent trail of another Fox. Every Fox has a unique scent, but they still smell like a Fox. I open the door and slip in while nobody is watching. I can always use my magic to unlock the door. Agartha follows me. There are no guards. That’s odd. Where are the guards? There is always a guard waiting. I open as many cells as I can and Agartha unlocks the rest. I stay behind to make sure they all escape. I hear the front door slam open and I hear many yells.
“Who goes there?!”
I flatten my ears. I've frozen again. Agartha runs out the back. I growl. I’ll be fine. I can fight them. I just had my empowering ceremony. I attack the first soldier. He knocks me back. I don’t have much physical strength. I try to blast them, but my attack comes out weak. What? I just had my empowering ceremony! How is this not working? Can I still not control my powers? They may have gotten stronger, but I guess I cannot control them yet. I thrash and jump at the soldiers, but they are all stronger than me. One throws me to the floor and pins me down. He holds my arms behind my back. I thrash but don’t move anywhere. I howl, yap, and scream. Another guard puts something around my neck, something metal. It’s tight, but it doesn’t choke me. They pull me up and I kick one of them. I stumble back into the cold stone wall. I try using my magic. I try again, and again, and again. Nothing happens. Where are my friends? Even though I can’t control the strength of my magic, I should still be able to use it. I cry out. The soldiers grab me and throw me into a cell. I cry out again. They lock the cell and I claw at the bars. The soldier that threw me in snears.
“That’s what you get…”
The soldiers leave, leaving me alone in the dark, cold dungeon. I curl up and cry. I close my eyes and open them again after a long while.

Nobody’s here…
Nobody came for me…
Where are my friends?

I am alone…

Will I ever see the light again?