[Silver]

A crystal. Kyuubi had been given the crystal by a mysterious stranger. He had said that it would fill up with... something. Well she didn't really know what it would fill up with, but the description intrigued her. She thought it might have a connection to the strange data rifts, so she was willing to help him with his experiment in order to further her theories.

"What are you exactly?" she said quietly to herself, turning the crystal over in her paws. It was dull and featureless. The stranger had explained to her that it would draw mysterious creatures near. That had to mean it was connected to the glitches, right?

[Silver]

All she had to do to fill the crystal with data was to wander around with it. That was another mystery that she hoped would make itself clear over time. The stranger sure seemed trusting with something so potentially powerful... and dangerous. Was such a lax approach to blame for the destruction of stability in the first place?

Whatever the case was, she was certain that the stranger and his odd crystals were a part of the story. She would just do exactly what he said for now, at least until she had to betray him. She hoped it wouldn't come to that, but she considered it a very likely option.

[Silver]

Kyuubi closed her eyes and tilted her nose up toward the sky. She let the unique scents and sounds of the forest flow over her. If there was ever such a place that would be full of oddities to fill up a crystal, this was it.

In addition to the odd crystals themselves, he had also given her a device to use while charging them. She had been debating with herself over when to start. If it captured the wrong energy, would a disaster follow? The instructions had been painfully unclear, something she really didn't like. She was just going to have to go with her gut, which had never failed her thus far.

[Silver]

She breathed out slowly, the cold air forming a little puff of condensation around her nose. Then she finally clicked the crystal into the device and held it at arm's length, just in case anything horrible happened. When she was sure that it wasn't going to explode on the spot, she pulled it back to inspect it. Well, it looks like he wasn't lying about that part, at least.

It had occurred to her that perhaps the stranger was playing a nasty trick on her, and the combination of the two elements would cause something awful to happen. That would have been an easy way to get her killed, that's for sure.

[Silver]

Even though she hadn't instantly evaporated or exploded, Kyuubi still found herself skeptical of the whole situation. This was such an odd thing to trust to a complete stranger! It was frustrating to think about.

She was equally torn between apprehension and curiosity. Either he was telling the truth, in which case she had a powerful artifact to study, or he wasn't, which would mean she had no idea what was going on. Well, whatever the case, she was there now, in the forest with her weird little contraption. Better well make the most of it while she could.

[Silver]

Kyuubi gave the device a little shake, since she didn't know what else to do with it. How would she know it was working? As she probably should have expected, nothing changed. She could only assume it was doing the right job. From that moment on, she decided that it was best to assume that the man who gave it to her was telling the truth. Otherwise she'd never get anything done.

She walked slowly through the forest, carefully inspecting the trees as she passed them. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. Just an utter, consuming silence and the low fog of night setting in. She always did work best at night.

[Silver]

Her ears flicked subtly as they picked up a sound. She froze in place and narrowed her eyes. She hadn't quite processed what was going on yet, but she knew it wasn't good. She clutched the device with the crystal inside and spun around to face the danger.

"Oh!" she said, half as an exclamation and half as a sigh. There was a small cat that had just jumped out of a tree and landed daintily to the ground. The fog seemed to evaporate where it landed and the two could see each other clearly. Kyuubi blinked a few times, unsure of whether to laugh or cry.

[Silver]

The two watched each other for just a moment, but it felt like ages. At the same time, they seemed to decide the other wasn't a threat. The cat chirped softly and waved its tail in a friendly manner.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll be on my way, then," Kyuubi said softly. She wasn't sure why, but saying it out loud made her feel better. It was as if acknowledging how silly the whole thing was evaporated the tension.

The cat chirped again, but this time more urgently. Was she imagining that? Surely not. She squinted at the creature, wondering what it meant.

[Silver]

The tense feeling in the air came back just as soon as it had left. It wasn't the cat after all. Kyuubi stiffened again. This couldn't be good.

She glared into the golden eyes of the tabby cat and waited to see what would happen next. She already knew that she could do nothing to stop it. This familiar feeling let her know what to do before her mind could even process it.

Could the tabby cat be involved? It seemed so sweet and innocent. She was waiting for it to morph into a giant monster or something of the sort. That's what the man had said might happen, right?

[Silver]

No. That wasn't it. As if the thoughts all rushed to her at once, she dove down, scooped up the kitty, and rolled behind a nearby tree. The cat squeaked in an undignified manner, but she wasn't about to apologize. She had just saved both of their hides.

A thud echoed into the silent forest as something struck the tree. The tabby cat squeaked again, this time in fear, and scrambled up the tree. Its claws scraped across Kyuubi's fur as it hurtled past her and into the branches.

"I'm so glad I saved you," she muttered under her breath a foot pushed off her nose.

[Silver]

Kyuubi unsheathed the claws on her free hand and tightened her grip on the device. She felt the need to protect it, even though she had not a clue why. She looked in the direction of the thud and dashed behind another nearby tree.

One thing she could always rely on was her speed. She darted around in short bursts, looking for anything that might be out of ordinary.

There it was. A beast of unknown origin. Was it a glitch? An intentionally summoned monster after her new crystal? Something more? Well she had no idea, but she knew she was in for a fight, and she was ready.

[Silver]

Kyuubi didn't have time to carefully consider the origins of the beast. She had to get rid of it before it did more damage. That was always the way.

She leaped up into the branches of a tree and looked down upon the skulking monster. It was hunting for something. She was pretty sure it was her that it wanted. She wouldn't give it the chance.

"Leaf blade," she whispered to herself. The magic words conjured a handful of leaves, pointed like little knives, aimed directly at the beast. Without a second's hesitation, they rained down, pelting the monster repeatedly like a shower of needles.

[Silver]

That had pissed it off. Whatever it was looking for before was of no consequence now. All it wanted was to shred whatever had caused it pain. It yelped loudly and snarled up at the tree. Its eyeless face locked on to Kyuubi and it jumped with all of its power to grab her out of the tree.

Kyuubi was faster than that, of course. She gracefully disappeared from the branch she was on and reappeared on another nearby, just in time for the beasts jaws to grab the limb and rip it right off the tree. Kyuubi breathed a sigh of relief.

[Silver]

This one was tougher than most. She could tell that already. Smaller anomalies could easily be dispatched with only a single leaf blade. This one shook it off like it was nothing, then proceeded to rip the entire branch right off of a tree as if it were nothing. She was right to be cautious.

She did, however, definitely have the advantage of speed. The creature was stocky and well muscled but not very fast. It had an impossibly big set of jaws with sharp teeth, four limbs, and a low profile. From its back little flecks of data flew around, distorting the air around it.

[Silver]

It was imperfectly formed. More strength than sense. Kyuubi knew to be careful with creatures like that. They didn't value their own lives enough to be cautious. She loathed whatever mechanism allowed them to exist. One day she would find them, and then...

The beast locked on to her again and lowered its head. It charged directly at the trunk of the tree, sending leaves and loose branches falling to the ground. It snapped its jaws up the tree at her, as if asking her to come down so that she could see them for herself. She declined that offer, of course.