Capturer's Presence

I felt slight pain when I tried opening my eyes, my head spinning and my paws aching. I shut my eyes for a moment before trying to open them again, when I opened them, it was dark. The ground below me felt rough, my fur felt messy, and for some reason my wristband was glowing again.

"W-What.. happened..?" I whispered and tried looking around, I finally noticed metal bars a few feet away from me. "Was.. I captured..?" I asked myself. There were torches outside, but they were glowing grey instead of the usual orange.

I slowly stood up and walked to the metal bars, I tried shaking the bars with my paws, but it didn't budge. "Great." I muttered, going back to my spot in the dark cell. Is there any key?

I suddenly felt as if someone is watching me again, my fur rose and my wristband started glowing again. My ears perked up the slightest sound, like creaking or even mice squeaks. "H-Hello?" I tried to call, no reply. "Is someone there?"

My ears suddenly perk up again when I heard footsteps, I squinted my eyes to get a better look then..

He laughed, "Oh, so you're awake." I gave him a glare. "Nice seeing you again." His voice was filled with sarcasm but he kept a smirk.

"Hunter." I growled and ran to the bars, "Why did you bring me here?" I asked while baring my teeth. Hunter laughed again and went to sit a few meters away from me, facing the blank wall.

"I was only commanded to." Hunter said blankly.

"By who?" I asked, sitting down. He stopped flicking his tail and looked at me.

"Why do you care?" He asked, eyes narrowed with malice in his eyes.

"HUNTER!" A deep voice yelled, Hunter flinched the slightest before standing up.

"I'll be back. Don't even try escaping." Hunter growled, but I could sense slight fear in his eyes before he left. I sat down in the dark corners of my cell and wondered how my friends were doing..

Later...

A few minutes passed, I heard footsteps that made my ears perk up. I saw Hunter limping a little before collapsing near the wall, a few feet from my cell bars. I stood up and went to take a look at him, he had a few bruises and they were mostly on his leg.

"What?" He growled, but in a more quiet tone.

"You're hurt. What-"

"I'M FINE!" He yelled, and turned away, trying to keep his posture the same. I flinched at his sudden outburst, his eyes glowed red and his paws were glowing black. "Leave me alone!" He added.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay with those bruises?" I asked, he growled and walked closer to me before raising his paw, and inching his claws near my neck.

"I will kill you, even if I wasn't told to." He threatened. I backed away this time, he put his paw down before going to his spot. Silence took over for the next few minutes.

"Did your master do that to you?" I asked, he ignored me but I knew he was listening because his ears folded to my direction. "Did they?"

"Why are you so curious?" He asked rudely, flicking his tail in annoyance. I huffed and rolled my eyes at him.

"Can't I just ask? You can't just let them do that to you." I said, "Why don't you stand up to them?" He, finally, turned to look at me.

"Imagine you in my position, my master demands everything they want, and you can't do anything about it but follow. You'll get your consequences when you don't." Hunter grumbled, "What would you do? Tell them to stop the consequences? Not likely, not ever." He finished before looking away.

"So you just let them control you?" I asked after a while.

"What other choice do I have?" Hunter muttered.

"You can run away." I suggested, he turned abruptly to me.

"Run away!? That's stupid! And not worth it, they'll just find you!" Hunter yelled, "What are you telling me?!"

"Don't you want to be controlling your own life?" I questioned him, he stiffened and looked away. "I mean. Nobody ever wants to be controlled, in a bad way." I added, he sat down without looking away from the window.

"Why are you telling me this? Why do you care?" He asked, in a quiet tone, this is the first time I've heard his voice like this.

"Your master just sounds cruel, and has harsh punishments. Is that your everyday life?"

"N-"

"Hunter! What are you doing?!" The voice yelled, Hunter shook his head, regained his posture and face before answering back.

"Nothing master." He answered.

"Don't forget the plan. Stupid fox." His master grumbled before it became quiet again.

"What plan?" I asked quietly, Hunter faced the wall once again.

"My master wants me to.. befriend you." He said after a while. My eyes widened.

"W-What?"

"You heard me. He wants us to be friends." Hunter muttered. I can't be a friend to my school's enemy group! At least.. no.. I can't! They'll think I'm a traitor!

"I'll look like a traitor! I can't risk that!" I exclaimed.

"Does the school already mean that much?" Hunter asked.

"Even though it's only been two days, I feel like it's home." I said seriously, Hunter suddenly laughed.

"This place never felt like home. It's the only one I have." Hunter grumbled.

"Why don't you ever think about running away? Aside from avoiding consequences and your master?" I asked, Hunter's ears folded back.

"I won't even know where to go. Or if I even have somewhere."

His voice suddenly sounded.. sad..

"Hunter-"

"Just forget what I said, I'll probably fail my master like before and meet my fate." He suddenly cut me off and stood up to get something.

Young fox, if your heart feels that what you can do is right, then it is the right thing to do.

The voice.. is this really a good decision?

"Hunter." I said, he was already biting on.. a key?

"What?" He asked blankly with the key in his mouth.

"Maybe we could do your plan."

To Be Continued...