The snake nose sticking through the wall of clouds next to us does not inspire faith in Niamh’s ability to offer privacy. Once pulled away from our hug, Cat walks over and presses a finger to her snoot, slowly pushing it back into the depths of fluffy whiteness.

“Thanks, Niamh,” she says facetiously.

She moves back over to my side and…puts…an arm around my hip oh this is really nice. I lean against my… my girlfriend… and she looks over and smiles at me. Good god everything is so soft and bright now. 

“You gonna be okay, Fox? You’re looking a little out of it.”

“Fine!” I exclaim.

I immediately realize how not-fine I sound shouting like that and take a deep breath before…slinking my arm around Cat’s side. Yes, yes this is good. 

“I’m fine. Really. Just… adjusting.” 

We’ve held each other many times before, but it’s only now that I really notice how she feels. Like there was a barrier between our bodies and souls before this moment that just shattered into dust, and suddenly, I have a girlfriend. I have a girlfriend and I’m her girlfriend oh my god. This is going to take some time getting used to. I’m filled with so much excitement and glee that I don’t know what to do with it! 

“Honestly, as much as I want to just sit down with you and spend the entire day figuring things out, I might need some time to myself. Being around you makes it…really hard to think about anything besides you.”

My partner (in more ways than one now, I suppose) chuckles at me, giving my back a pat and leaning down to kiss my foreheadddddd godddddddd. Just little displays of affection like this. They feel like so much. Have I been craving intimacy so badly this whole time? Because it feels like every sense in my body is exploding simultaneously.

“You do what you gotta do, Fox. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” The girl takes a seat back at the table and smiles at me, tail gently swaying behind her. “What’re you gonna do though?”

That’s a good question, and an easy one. 

“I think I’ll take Yombroila up on that visit she mentioned.” 

Cat’s smile falters suddenly, and I don’t blame her, remembering the beginning of last night.

“My my, picking sides already, are we? And I just got here too…” the serpent woman chimes in, deciding to finally pull back the curtain of clouds so she may smirk at us more. “At least I have you, Kitty Cat~”

“I’d ask you to not call me that, but I feel that’d be a waste of breath,” my girlfriend admits, shaking her head and sighing. “What exactly are you talking about ‘picking sides’ anyways? Yombroila mentioned you two have a history of sorts, but I have no idea what that actually means.”

An amused hiss escapes the snake woman’s snout. “Oh, it wouldn’t be fair for me to tell all tales without consent of both parties.” Her tail coils around the legs of her chair as she takes a sip from her tea, placing her cup down after and pouring herself some more. “From what I can gather, she must feel spurned in some matter or another. I would assure her my involvement with the Inktons was purely contractual, but I doubt she would listen to a word I say without convincing~”

What a confusing pair Niamh and Yombroila make. 

“I’ll ask her myself if she happens to be willing to speak at all,” I offer, the snake giving me a grin and Cat offering a nod.

“Ah, wait, are you going to be okay going out like this?” my partner asks.

Only then do I remember that, yes, we have changed quite a bit since yesterday. There’s no way people won’t notice such a dramatic shift in height…

“I could make a scene in the middle of t--”

“No, Niamh,” I begin, cutting the snake woman off, “you are not going to do whatever zany thing you were thinking of doing in the middle of town just so I can meet with Yombroila.”

“Zany?” she asks, sounding only slightly offended. “Puh-lease, darling, my plans are only the most refined and eloquent of ideas ever to be thought by the mind of a beautiful and very sexy snake woman!”

“Ten bucks say you were about to start seducing people in town square.”

Niamh is simply appalled by Cat’s assumption.

“My word, pussycat! In what manner have I offended you so!” She covers her mouth with her hand before turning her nose up at Cat. “How rude! I was simply going to be offering them a good time, nothing more, nothing less--”

“And that’s why no Niamh plans right now,” I assert walking over and patting Niamh’s shoulder, doing my damnedest to move my feet out of the way of her incoming tail seeking to coil about them. “I’ll just sneak about the edge of town, no biggie. I’ve got the whole fox leg package now, so I should be able to zip past any problems.”

My ggggggirlfriend gives me a nod, a smile, and a wave: all I need to start the day.

“Oh!” she exclaims suddenly.

She reaches into a drawer on the kitchen counter and whips out whatever it is she was searching for. Oh, a granola bar! 

“I asked Sue for a few before we left yesterday. Don’t start running about on an empty stomach!” 

I give the girl a grin before peeling the wrapper off and snarfing the bar down, quick as I can before disposing of the plastic in the trash.

“Thanks, kitty. I’ll be back in no time, promise.”

“Take your time! It’s your time, after all. It’s important to you.”

“I can offer you an even more important time if you’re interested~ I call it, ‘You and Niamh t--”

“Goodbye, Niamh. See ya, Cat.”

 

It’s a bright and sunny autumn day in Railsent today. How awful for me. The shadows may be thicker, but they’re also quite a bit more sparse. My best bet is probably to just walk a distance away from town and circle into the forest. It’s inconvenient for sure, but it would have been much more of a hassle before I moved faster than a speeding train.

Out and around. The outer edge of town is mercifully devoid of people. In fact, judging from how things look as I get closer to the forest’s entrance, I daresay the town has been rather dead compared to its usual self. I think back to the Rosesteins and wonder just how busy Yombroila has been between the two towns. Not that it’s my concern yet, I’m just waiting for… something. The transformation to complete? Enough money to buy a house? A miracle to happen?

“You look like you’re thinkin’ too hard!”

Ah, there they are. Just as I’m about to make my way into the woods, a familiar voice makes themselves known. They skate on up to me as I turn around, smiling at them as they approach.

“Morning, Zee, morning Sue. Out and about already?”

“You betcha! Though, been a lot less people in need of stuff lately. On one hand, boo, less funding towards our unhealthy obsessions. On the other, yay, more time for us! Say, have you always been this short?

I snort, putting a hand to my hip and my weight to one side. “Our curse took both our legs and our heights today. Err, more like it took my height and gave it to Cat.”

“Holy crap, she must be huge then!”

“You betcha. Anyways, I was just going out for a quick walk, don’t let me get in the way of your work.”

“You never do! Seeing you around is always a pleasure!” They give me that charming grin of theirs before speeding off and waving to me. “I’ll see you two tonight though, promise!!”

Heh. I can only imagine how those two and Niamh will get along. Regardless, I don’t want to keep the goddess waiting, so into the forest I go, trying not to get too lost in thought. The forest is just as beautiful as I remember it from my dreams. Light shimmering through the canopy. Leaves gently swaying. The entirety of it is bathed in a dreamy shine that makes the place look almost ethereal. Part of me wants to get on all fours again before remembering, no, I am not an actual fox right now, though I’m getting there. Might be good I’m not one at the moment, as I actually see critters roaming about these woods: squirrels, bunnies, birds, geckos, salamanders, even animals I’d never expect to see in a Canadian forest. Some mind their own business and pay me no mind while others watch me curiously.

I feel as though it would be quite easy to get lost in this place should one not know where to go. There’s no obvious path to follow unless you look in just the right places, where it’s almost as if the light itself is guiding you. It also helps that I remember my dream of finding Penny rather vividly, so it’s not difficult to remember where I need to go.

Ah, there we are. The giant tree in the center of the forest. And next to it, a grave, same as that in my dream. The sound of my feet against the light bathed grass sounds even more present in the sublime silence of the center of this forest, making me slow my steps to savour the sound.

It wouldn’t feel right to take Penny’s seat, but I do see the place she offered to me next to her’s. I find it easy enough to settle into it, sitting down and holding my knees close as I stare up at the radiant sea of the swaying forest leaves.

“Yaaawn… Ah… So you came…”

I don’t even feel the need to look around to notice Yombroila materializing from the tree and taking a seat on the opposite side of the grave, her light making her apparent enough.

“Your invitation was hard to pass up.” 

The goddess chuckles lightly at me. She…chuckled? It’s hard to recall her expressing much emotion beyond concern and…whatever it was when she seemed so sinister. It almost feels as if that part of her simply is not here.

“I am pleased to hear such. For thousands of years, I have been barred not just from the world I was born from, but the home so dear to me. Even beyond that, visits from those who know me were few and far between. It is a pleasure to have you, Fox…”

I nod, still looking up and above. It’s quiet here, yet even more so with the goddess next to me. It’s not an awkward silence, however. A full silence, perhaps, as if there is no need to speak through it lest we truly want to.

“You’ve been through a lot then, yes?” I wonder aloud, finally looking over to the person next to me. 

She seems calm. Hands in her lap, gazing into the light of the forest just as I had been.

“Quite so. I cannot even recall which Inkton it was that bested me, but it was only through underhanded tactics that they even had the chance. Even before that though, there has been much in the way of struggles throughout the tens of thousands of years I have existed.”

“I didn’t personally believe in any gods before I met you. Hearing that there’s a timeline to your life is quite the surprise.”

“Hmhm. Yes, I was not always Yombroila. Just as you had not always been Fox.”

“Would that make you an Ascended then?”

She shakes her head. “Not exactly. I am a goddess. Human, Ascended, Radiant, I belong to no such group but my own. Other deities exist in the same vein as I, however, they have kept themselves and their influences over the world in greater secrecy. My own influences, being somewhat more difficult to hide, are what drew the wrath of the Inktons to me.”

“Did something really bad happen in particular? I tried to reason with Waywright before…”

I sit up a little and pull up my dress-sized shirt, revealing the stub that was once my tail much to Yombroila’s dismay. Her hand moves to just hover over it as her face becomes wrought with concern.

“...this happened,” I begin. “It seemed as though the only thing pushing her to continue this battle against us is the fact her family has been doing this for so long. It just seems odd to me…”

A sigh escapes Yombroila’s mouthless face, the goddess closing her eyes and placing a hand on my shoulder.

“...Such is simply the way of some people. A belief so long held, it cannot be contested simply by means of reason. Not that we should not try. It would simply take… a special sort of convincing. I do not believe Waywright is truly a bad person, unlike Ares, but she is firmly planted in the beliefs of the Inkton way.”

A conflicted frown works its way onto my muzzle-- face. Right. I don’t have a muzzle right now. Regardless, I can’t help but feel even more resolute in my idea that there is a better way to end this conflict. I only wish I knew the way.

“...I am so, so sorry about your tail, Fox. I can sense much has changed within you since we met last night for the better, but at the cost of having to face a great darkness.”

“Yeah, Azathoth…” I shudder, Yombroila’s eyes going wide at the mention of the name. “...Let’s just say, if I never see a dog again, it’ll be too soon.”

 

The goddess fades away for but a moment, only to appear behind me, wrapping her arms around my front.

“My child… My poor…poor child…” Is she…sobbing? “I sense a great deal of pain within you. I wish I could offer you another of my gifts, but…it is too early for such a thing.”

I tilt my head, looking back at the goddess with a quizzical expression.

“Another gift…?”

I sense a smile glowing off of her, if that makes any sense. “You’ve already experienced it partially as a result of…my dear friend. It is something for those who need it most. You may have even witnessed those who have accepted such a gift as you traversed these woods.”

My confusion only grows until the meaning of her last statement dawns on me.

“Are you saying those are…?”

She nods, running a hand through my hair. Only then do I notice that her hands are not the imposing golden metal I’d once seen, but something more akin to soft, white gloves.

“All of them. This is their sanctuary. A place of peace for those who have known none. Less is this forest my own, than it is home to those I seek to offer refuge and home to.”

Something replays in my mind as the goddess speaks. Just like me…? There is a different air to the dolls and the denizens of this forest, yet a similar energy is about them. Something that draws me towards them…

“Might there be something on your mind, dear Fox?”

“Just thinking about that gift. My mind keeps running around the idea like it’s a present waiting to be unwrapped.”

The goddess chuckles at me, humming gently. Her voice sounds…so much more human. Not that it didn’t before, but it had sounded more like it was a human trying to be a deity. Now she’s speaking and humming and laughing much more naturally.

“If it is Christmas you seek, I shall tell you to wait about three more days, my child.” 

Oh? The small remainder of my tail begins to wag, and I presume the goddess can feel that from her giggling. 

“You are a delightful child, Fox. I must apologize to your companion as well--”

“Girlfriend.”

Her hands stop in my hair mid-stroke. Oh she’s definitely smiling now. I can practically feel the brightness of it shining upon my back. 

“Girlfriend! I must apologize to her as well, but first to you for any…aggression that may have managed to show. I must be this way for my own safety, but… I do apologize for the discomfort it has brought the both of you.”

I shrug my shoulders and smile, leaning against the goddess more now. A part of me doubts that she ‘must’ be this way, but with how much less goddess and more human she’s coming off now, I’d imagine she has her own problems to work through.

“I figured as much, but clearly you can do a good job of showing you can be otherwise.”

“...Have you always been this understanding?”

“Only to those who at least try to understand me.”

The two of us sit in silence for a time again. I should have come here earlier. You can lose yourself in a place like this, and I would have wanted that the past few months. Hell, the past few years… Funny that, even if I do cherish having a place like this now, it comes at a time when I’m finally figuring out how to live without it.

“I really have changed haven’t I.”

Yombroila chuckles, resuming the stroking of my hair, right between my eyes. If I were any more a fox than I am now, I’m sure I’d be melting into her just as I had with Cat, or even Zee.

“Perhaps changed is not the most accurate way of putting it,” the goddess begins. “My gift is to show one their true self. If anything, you’ve not changed a bit. You’ve merely come to realize who you really are, and become more aware of your wants and feelings.”

“That sounds about right. I haven’t so much changed into a girl as I have realized that I am one.”

The goddess slows her petting, only to bring her hands lower and hold me close to her.

“...My daughter…”

Ohhh. Oh it’s warm. My chest feels warm and my body feels soft, fuzzy even. Goddess as she may be, she feels more like the mother I never had. The one I’ve always wanted. I’ve been doing a lot of crying recently, but only since today has any of it felt like me. Soft, gentle tears falling down my face.

I’ve found my happiness.