Fox

 

It seemed almost silly of me to be rushing back home as the sun began to set; I’d completely lost track of time over the course of my visit with Yombroila, but I’d end up back there tonight for our mission anyways. Still, it wouldn’t feel fair of me to stay there all day right after Cat and I…uhm…yeah. Girls. As I make my way home, what I don’t expect to find is my girlfriend being carried down to me from the skies by our new winged serpent friend. There’s a pang of jealousy in my heart, but honestly, it is a cute sight seeing my partner held like that, waving at me sheepishly. A smirk finds its way onto my face and I cross my arms.

“Been busy, you two?”

Cat chuckles nervously as Niamh places her on the ground and her wing slaps her back towards me.

“Not busy, per say. Just grabbed a bite to eat is all,” the serpent explains.

Aw, that’s nice. I was worried about Cat getting along with Niamh, but things seem to be better than I expected. 

“That’s great! I’m guessing I can’t expect any leftovers though, huh?”

Cat punches my arm without force, both she and Niamh giggling.

“C’mon, I’ll make you something nice before we conk out.”

“I’ll leave you two to your business then~” the snake woman chimes in, turning around and spreading her wings wide once more.

“Not sleeping over, huh?” I joke, only for her to look back at me and smirk.

“Not yet~”

With that, her powerful wings take her off to the skies. I wave at her, even if she’s turned away from me. Turning to Cat after, I give her a sheepish grin as I walk over and open our door.

“I am pretty hungry. And tired. Not to rush you or anything.”

I find Cat’s hand upon my head, petting me affectionately as she walks towards the kitchen, tail swaying freely.

“I enjoy treating you, hun, all you have to do is ask. How was your day with Yom anyways?”

“...Yom?”

“...Uhh. Don’t ask.”

I snicker as I take a seat at our table. “It was good. It feels like she’s really mellowed out, at least for now. I know you’re not as keen on her as I am, but I’d recommend giving her a visit still.”

“Aha, I’ll think on that.”

 

Once fed, I find myself heading straight for my room, Cat following right behind me oh right.

“Y-you know, you don’t have to sleep with me if you think that’s going too fast--”

I stop talking as I find my chin in Cat’s hand, tilting my gaze up to her’s and making my heart race. My breathing gets a bit heavier as our noses touch, fuck she’s beautiful.

“We’ve spent our entire lives together, and goddess knows how many of those were spent pining away for each other. I think we’ve earned some quality time together, if you ask me. But this isn’t just about me. This is your relationship too. You tell me to slow down, and I’ll slow down.”

It sounds like this has been on her mind a long while, meanwhile I've only just recently realized what I’ve been feeling is…well, feelings for her. Even so… Even if I hadn’t realized it, I’ve still wanted to express them for so long. A-and, I am feeling kind of lonely in bed sometimes…

“...This is fine. Uhm, what about…clothes…? Since you prefer to sleep in the nude.”

Her giggle spins around my head like a song.

“Again, up to you. I don’t mind keeping things on if it makes it more comfortable for you.”

Huff. Yeah, I think that’s about my limit for now. I give her a nervous nod and she smiles back at me.

“I’ll go change into something more comfortable then.” 

Before she can go, with her face so close to mine, it’s hard for us not to end that on a kiss, both of us leaning into one another and our lips pressed against each other’s for but a moment. I don’t think that’ll ever get old, holy fuck. As much as Cat giggles it off like it was nothing, I can see from her face that this means just as much to her as it does to me.

I change into something more sleep appropriate as well. With none of my pants really fitting any more, it’s a good thing most of my shirts double as dresses now. For a moment, though, I look down at myself, at my new legs, my new hips… They look good. N-not in an inappropriate way! Just…it feels good to see my body like this. I was so hesitant to accept this at first, but now I can’t wait for more. I can’t wait for night to come so I can finally give this damn fox that’s been waiting inside of me for god knows how long some real appreciation.

“Yeah, me too,” I hear chime out behind me.

I turn around to see Cat looking at me, leaning against the doorframe with a catty smile as I check myself out, leaving me blushing and frozen like a deer in headlights. The girl walks over and picks me up like a cardboard cutout and lays me on my bed, leaning down to kiss my forehead and leaving me even more flustered as she walks around to the other side and crawls in with me. 

“You doin’ okay, babe?”

Babe. God I love hearing her call me sweet things like that. I roll over to face her with a smile, nodding to her. She smiles back, only to push at my shoulder and roll me back over to face away from her. Worry strikes my heart for a second before it dawns on me that oh, she wants to spoon with me. My little tail, still small despite having grown somewhat over the course of the day, wags against her merrily, making my partner laugh as she pulls me in and snuggles me closer.

“...Love you, Fox.”

“...I love you too, Cat…”

 

…

 

Apparently while sleeping, my tail decided to whip back around to my front, because Cat and I are hugging this thing pretty tightly. It appears to be 3/4ths the way back to its original size, which is still pretty big considering how massive it was before. I’m about to get up as it’s almost time for us to shift forms, but Cat, sleepy Cat, really wants to cuddle. I mean, I’m happy to oblige but…

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap--

“WHAT?!” Cat shrieks directly behind my ears, making all the fur on my body stand on end. Upon realizing this, she apologizes with some head pats before reluctantly sitting up and--

“...Oh, Zee’s here,” she says.

“...Heh?”

“Sue too.”

My confusion at Cat’s statement is accompanied by sitting up myself and-- Oh. Sue-Zee’s here. Grinning like a maniac outside our window which they were presumably tapping also like a maniac. How the hell does Sue deal with them.

“...You may come in.”

My voice is met with the immediate ca-shunk of our window opening and Zee crawling in on their roller skates. Do they ever take those things off?!

“Hey, thanks! We were gonna come in, permission or not, but probably better this way!”

A tired groan escapes my mouth as I shake the sleepiness out of my head, turning my body to sit on the edge of the bed while the familiar ticking of Cat’s pocket watch fills the empty air of my room.

“Yeup, right about…”

Woosh.

Fwoom.

“...Whoa. That. Was. EPIC.”

“Yeah, thanks Zee, real epic,” I groan.

I stand up and walk past our navigators to grab my gear off the chair, then push Sue-Zee out of my room and offer a path out to the giggling Cat. Once she’s out of my room as well and I’m left to get my bearings, I close the door and throw my shirt off, looking down at myself. Damn. Is it wrong to think I look really attractive like this? I don’t want to seem narcissistic or anything, but…damn. Maybe it’s just the fluttering in my heart telling me everything is right again. But also, I’m pretty sure I look pretty alright. Yeah. That should be fine to think. After looking myself over for a bit, I finally get geared up and walk out to find Sue-Zee and Cat gathered around the table, looking like a portrait of bored thieves waiting for their next heist, a portrait I should be joining now.

“We’re all set to go?” I ask, getting a nod from all three of them. “Alright. Let’s pay the goddess a visit~”

 

I swear Sue-Zee must have rockets built into those skates, because they almost manage to keep up with us as we sneak our way down to Yombroila’s Forest, zipping in without trouble.

“Wow. We haven’t been here since we were kids,” Sue comments. “It hasn’t changed one bit…”

“It’s kind of timeless, isn’t it?” I add, earning a nod of agreement from those two.

We manage to find our way to the big tree at the center of the forest (I should really ask Yombroila if she has a name for it) before the goddess can even come to meet us, though, as soon as I think this, she begins to materialize out of the tree. Looking over at Sue-Zee, I see their eyes glistening in awe of the shining deity.

“My children--”

Yombroila doesn’t even finish addressing us before snapping her gaze at our navigators.

“Who is this?”

The goddess floats down to the ground, pointing a finger at Sue-Zee as she asks for them to be identified. Our navigators seem keen on answering her question themselves, bolting directly in front of her and shaking her pointing hand with both of theirs.

“Sue and Zee Rivers, Zee fronting, you can call us Sue-Zee! It’s an honour to meet you, ma’am!”

At first, Yombroila seems almost offended by our pals, but quickly her gaze softens the further into their introduction they get.

“Ah! A plural system! Pleased to be acquainted, Sue-Zee. I’d had the fortune of offering my gifts to many like yourself over the course of my life, some even recently since my awakening.” That almighty goddess voice of her’s seems to falter back to her more natural voice as she talks to Sue-Zee, taking one of their hands off of hers and holding both of theirs in either of her hands, smiling at our friends.

“Aw, hell yeah! We haven’t gotten a chance to meet anyone like us in person, you’ve gotta introduce us!”

The goddess chuckles, “In due time, in due time. I do see you are one capable of being given the gifts I bear.”

Oh. Ohhh yeah, they are like us in that way, aren’t they?

“My children… Will you accept Ascension?”

Sue-Zee’s eyes gleam in Yombroila’s radiance, her mouth agape in awe turning into a bright smile.

“You mean I can be a furry too?!”

“Erm… Yes, my children. I am capable of offering to you your true selves.”

Zee’s excitement turns to contemplation, tapping their chin in thought. Or maybe they’re talking with Sue? Is that how that works? Hopefully it’s not rude to ask at some point.

“...Hmmmmmmm… Y’know, as much as we’d love that, we might have to get a raincheck on that one.”

Wha? Can…can they just do that? According to Yombroila’s smile as she pulls Sue-Zee’s hands closer to each other, grasping both in both palms, yes, yes they can.

“Of course, my children. My gifts to you shall be waiting for the time when you are ready for them.”

“Sweet! Yeah, we’re pretty alright with how we are now, we’ve worked hard to find a self that works for both of us. Plus… I dunno. This team needs token human characters. For now, we’d feel more comfortable working with our tech as we are. And we have a hunch how to use that to our advantage.” Yombroila releases Sue-Zee’s hands upon their explanation, our friends skating back a bit. “Maybe after this book!”

The goddess nods at them. “Duly noted, my children. From the sounds of it, you two will be aiding Fox and Cat in their missions from here on out?”

Zee offers her an enthusiastic nod and a thumbs up. “Already have been!”

“Excellent,” Yombroila replies, nodding and holding her hands close together. “Then let us move on to the briefing. This will be a mission quite unlike what you’ve known thus far.”

 

Moving closer to the giant tree, I take a seat in the same spot I had earlier today, Cat joining me and standing by my side while Sue-Zee sits on the grass.

“I must ask you to be careful with this general. She commands the dolls which you have seen roaming the city at night, but as I am sure you have noticed, they are not like anything else you have yet faced.”

An odd feeling worms its way into my chest. She’s right, I have noticed, and it makes me feel…weird.

“These are the Fallen Daughters. They cannot feel pain. This is good in that you cannot bring harm to them, as they, too, are real people, unlike the faceless phantoms of Ares. Unfortunate for you, they are relentless in their pursuit to keep their mother pleased.”

“This is sounding really weird, ma’am,” Cat chimes in, bringing a sullen look to Yombroila’s face.

“Indeed. I can sense odd energies from them, ever so slightly similar to my own, but different in ways I cannot comprehend. The general is one I have little experience with as a result of my entrapment, for she made few appearances before then.”

“Maybe we can help then?” I ask, all eyes on me. “If the Radiant tend to be folks who have influenced mythology and the like in various ways, we might know about them.”

The goddess nods at me. “A fine idea. Ladies and gentlethems, your mark for tonight is Geppette, Mother of Fallen Daughters.”

...Huh? We all blink at the goddess.

“Is there a problem with this, my children?”

“Do you mean Geppetto?” Cat asks.

“From Pinocchio?” I add.

The goddess points at Cat first and then me, responding to our guesses respectively. “No. Yes, I believe so.”

“Huh?!” All four of us exclaim at once, forcing a sigh out of Yombroila.

“She is the Puppet Maker Reborn. I expect you to have some respect and treat her with it. Her name is Geppette.”

...Oh! Oh, okay. All four of us look at one another and nod, Zee in particular offering an enthusiastic thumbs up.

“Sounds good to us!” Zee says. “Honestly, there’s not much to really know about her, so we might as well be going in blind.”

“...How unfortunate. I would offer my aid if that were possible, but I am afraid combat is not something I have partaken in for tens of thousands of years.”

Oh shit, Yombroila used to fight.

“No worries,” I say as I stand up, “we’re the best in the business. We always find a way through whatever puzzles and problems lay in our path.”

Cat and Yombroila smile at me, the latter nodding.

“I put my trust and faith into you four then. You shall find her within the…haunted, for lack of a better word, looking manor to the west of Monorise. Do not let me or your…”

The goddess pauses for a moment before sighing.

“...Make me proud, my children.”

Thus, her light fades as she disappears into the night.

“...Kinda dramatic, ain’t she?” Zee says.

“...Yes, but she’s our dramatic,” I reply.