Hush - Silent Footsteps

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Isn’t something missing?

Isn’t someone missing me?


Evanescence: “Missing”

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Chapter 2 – Forgive me

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In the silence of the night a creature ran through the streets of the sleeping city. It struggled to not make any unnecessary noise as it defied the harsh wind that picked up steadily. ‘It’s going to storm,’ the small animal thought as it too picked up his pace, running as fast as its small legs allowed him to. ‘I need to find a shelter.’ Hastily, it looked around. Searching for a place it could stay for the night. The wind howled through the deserted streets, setting the predator’s teeth on edge. Its copper-coloured fur was ruffled from the cold, unable to warm the fox enough against the iciness. Its dark eyes caught a glimpse of an open window. The light was shining inside the small room, illuminating it. ‘Why… in such a weather… Hmm… Oh well, it’s better than sleeping outside, isn’t it?’ It thought as it made its way to the window.

Inside the small room was a young boy sitting on a tattered sofa, looking outside the window. His apartment could be barely considered habitable. There was hardly anything in a good shape, let alone valuable. His gaze rested on the broken window. He had wanted to close it before the wind picked up. However, it broke down the instant he wanted to close it. Crouching, he buried his golden locks between his knees and rocked back and forth in that position to warm himself. That was when small paws tread on the windowsill and dark eyes lingered on the small crouching figure.

Meanwhile, Sasuke read over the text that contained the details of his job once again. Akatsuki. He knew he had heard that name before, but he wasn’t able to recall his memories. The raven haired thief went to his kitchen, occupying his right hand with pouring a glass of Cal Pico before sitting down on a stool in front of the counter, taking a nip of the milky drink. ‘Better get going,’ the young man thought, ignoring his nagging mind that wanted him to remember Akatsuki. It wasn’t his job to care about his clients’ names or activities, as long as they paid him, everything was okay.

It was already dark outside when the raven left the house, only carrying the most necessary things with him. He went through the gist of his mission in his mind; a golden fox in 26 Hampshire Road, Salem. With a stout-hearted jump he landed on the roof of his house. His eyes adjusted to the dark quickly, allowing him to take a flying leap forward.

Sneaking up on the young blond carefully, the reddish brown creature was as quiet as a mouse. It managed to approach the teen until there were only five inches between them when, all of a sudden, the youngster looked up from his crouch and saw the small figure in front of him. Scared, the small animal fluffed up its tail and its fur, which was soft and limber just a moment ago, stood on end. Suddenly the small carnivore looked twice as big as it was originally. A raspy hiss escaped the shy fox; the sound lingered in the small room threateningly, but Naruto wasn’t afraid. Quite the contrary; a gentle smile graced his features and he closed his eyes to comfort the scared fox.

Upon seeing the soft smile it stopped hissing. “Are you cold?” Naruto asked calmly. The fox eyed the whiskered boy suspiciously, not noticing that its fur slowly became limber again. It wasn’t as agitated as it was before. “I think you are,” the young blond snickered when he noticed the confused look of the fox. “And I bet you’re hungry, too. Well, at least I am.” Naruto got up slowly. He didn’t want the shy creature to fear him, so he was very careful in his moves. “Would you like something to eat?” Naruto asked as he went to the kitchen carefully. Each step he made was very slow, his breathing controlled, in order to not scare the small animal.

The fox cowered, his eyes never left the retreating blond as it got ready to defend itself if necessary.

Naruto was looking through the fridge for some food. Foxes were predators, weren’t they? So Naruto looked for some meat, which isn’t that simple when your fridge contains up to 99.95% of ramen. That means that you have to find the other 0.05% which isn’t ramen. Good luck!

Naruto huffed in annoyance. “Where’s the meat I bought yesterday?” Slowly, but surely, the blond boy lost his temper. Agitated, the teenager pulled out various cups of ramen and threw them through his kitchen, when all of a sudden an overjoyed “Found it!” escaped his lips. In less than half an hour he had prepared his and the fox’s meals. Well, his meal was ready in an instant, but the fox’s meal took some time. “Hey,” Naruto said to the small fox as he peeked around the corner. “Dinner is served.”

The shy animal took a step backwards, putting no trust in the teenager’s words. “Oh. Come on, little one. Neither the food will hurt you nor will I.” Naruto tried to lure the fox; his efforts resulted in a small fox that sniffed the air. Carefully, Naruto put down the dish for the fox, before he sat down on the floor, too. A sigh escaped his lips as he took a bite from his ramen. “You still don’t trust me…?” He said disappointedly. The animal sniffed the air to make sure that everything was alright. Indeed, it was food. But more important was that the food seemed to be alright. It didn’t smell as though it was spoiled, poisoned, or contained any medicine. It just smelled like meat; tasty, edible meat. Slowly, the small predator sneaked up to its prey: the meat. The teenager watched the scene from the corner of his eye. When the fox took its first bite from the meat, Naruto let his hand drop to floor carefully. He just sat there for a while, not moving any part of his body, while the fox was eating its food. A comfortable silence enveloped them, comforting both of them as though they were being tucked in a warm blanket. Minutes passed by and became hours, and Naruto got tired. Most of his body parts had gone to sleep already, leaving a numb feeling behind. Carefully, the blond lay down on the floor, not bothering to get up and go to bed. He was tired and, somehow, he wanted to be near the fox, listening to its steady breathing, feeling its warmth, knowing it was there. Another sigh escaped his lips, but this time he felt content as he drifted to sleep. The fox yawned, announcing that it was tired as well. Semi-somnolent, it walked over to the sleeping blond. Searching for warmth, it cuddled itself up close to the dreaming boy; resting its head on the extended hand, it drifted to sleep as well.

Both were fast asleep when a draught rushed through the open window followed by a raven haired young man. ‘I didn’t think it would be that easy…’ The dark haired man thought as he looked around the small room he was in. ‘Fox… Golden fox… Where’s that damn thing?!’ He thought annoyed. There was no fox, much less a golden fox. In his opinion, the apartment he was in was rather run-down. There wasn’t any gold, and he doubted there was any in the other rooms.

A “Hn” escaped Sasuke’s lips as he walked around the room, looking for a potential hiding place where his target could be in. A safe, under the bed sheets, under the bed, in the wardrobe, … While he was thinking about the various possible places where it might be, he almost tripped over something. He was able to break his fall in the last minute. Trying to redress his balance, he looked down to see what was on the floor that had almost caused him to fall. His eyes widened. A blond boy and a small fox were lying on the floor.

Sasuke looked around irritated. Could it be…? It was obvious that there wasn’t any golden fox statue in the apartment, and the blond boy and the fox next to him were closest to his target. So they were his target? The raven regarded the bent figures on the floor thoughtfully. ‘Oh well,’ Sasuke shrugged off his remorse. ‘It isn’t my place to judge my clients’ choices.’ He quickly stuffed them in a sack, glad that they were fast asleep, and ran as fast as he could. Jumping from roof to roof, he picked up his speed. It was already late and he didn’t want anyone to see him. From the corner of his eye, he looked at the sack in which his target was. “Don’t worry,” he said to his captured prey soothingly. “You won’t stay with me very long. You’ll meet your new owner very soon, I promise.” With another powerful dart, the young raven took off into the night.



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Meian: So, that’s the second chapter. And this time I included —

Naruto: — ME! *YAY*

Meian: Um… yeah.

Sasuke: Hey.

Meian: Hm?

Sasuke: What the fuck is Cal Pico?

Meian: It’s tasty, trust me. I want one, too…

Sasuke: Hn…

Meian: …

Sasuke: Hn…

Meian: ??

Sasuke: Hn…

Meian: Okay. So what’s wrong now?!

Sasuke: Hn…

Meian: … Well?

Sasuke: Hn…

Meian: … Never mind then.

Naruto: He’s always like that.

Meian: I’m sorry, I didn’t write for such a long time. I’m rather busy with work, school and keeping my promises. I have to think of a way to write more often.

Sasuke: Hn…

Meian: I’ll ignore you if you ‘hn’ once more.

Naruto: So… How have you been?

Sasuke: …

Meian: I can’t complain, I think.

Sasuke: …

Naruto: Sasuke?

Meian: … Sasuke?

Sasuke: …

Meian: If you don’t breathe, you’ll die.

Sasuke: *inhales a deep breath*

Naruto: It’s almost my birthday!

Meian: Well, today’s mine!

Sasuke: …

Naruto: Omedetou!

Meian: Arigatou!