Hey there dear readers! I am so happy to bring to you the newest chapter of The Fox's Path!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fox's Path (Chapter 13)

 

by

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"C'mon, Tay-Tay! Get up already!"

Taylor was startled awake as she was gently being shook by a bouncy and energetic Lily.

"Lily? What's going on?" Taylor asked sleepily, looking over at her digital alarm clock, seeing it showing 7:15, followed by two small symbols that Taylor quickly learned were this world's equivalent of A.M. "School doesn't start for another few hours," Taylor mumbled, rolling over and pulling a stray pillow over her head, in an attempt to return to sleep, only to have the covers and the pillow thrown off.

"Tay-Tay, it's not a school day!" Lily said, her tail wagging rapidly.

"What? Then why aren't you letting me sleep in?" Taylor asked as she sat upright, the cobwebs clearing from her mind as she reluctantly woke the rest of the way up. She was wearing her pink nightie, smoothing the short hemline back down from where it was riding up.

I gotta find some pajamas soon, The vixen thought with a slight blush.

"Because she's coming home early!" Lily said as bubbly as was possible for her.

"What?" Taylor asked, completely confused.

"Molly!" Lily practically cheered just as it finally clicked for Taylor.

"Today? But, wait, wasn't that for another three days?"

"It was supposed to be, but apparently there was a schedule change, and so now she's getting an extra three days, starting today! She called just a little while ago, and mom went to go pick her up at the airship terminal," Lily explained.

"Oh... OH!" Taylor said, suddenly getting it. "So that means that I gotta move into your room today." Lily nodded.

"You got that right, roomie!"

Taylor scrambled out of the nightie, knowing full well from past experience that Lily wasn't going to just leave to let her change, pulling on a simple green skirt and a green tank top over her white bra and panties. Once dressed, Taylor gathered her blonde headfur into a ponytail, using a simple elastic hairband to hold it together.

"Gorgeous, as always," Lily said with a giggle, making her way over to Taylor and giving her a hug.

"Now, Molly isn't going to mind one bit sharing a closet with her new baby sister, so you can go right ahead and leave your clothes in it," Lily explained, breaking off the hug and heading over to the desk to start gathering up Taylor's text books and school supplies, while Taylor grabbed up her games, her encyclopedia, her magic glasses, and her Ironhart book.

"Huh, I just realized that, aside from your clothes, this is pretty much everything," Lily said, before shrugging. "Something else for us to work on, Tay-Tay." She said with a smirk, exiting the room and entering hers, with Taylor following right behind her. Taylor saw that Lily's normally crowded desk had been cleared off, as the wolf girl set her school supplies down on it.

"Thanks, Lily."

"No problem! Now, how about a quick review on the finer points of mascara?"

"Uhhh... w-well, maybe later..." Taylor said. Hopefully never, She thought.

"Awww, okay." Lily sounded a little disappointed, before her ears perked, and turned a little in the direction of the stairs, her tail resuming it's wagging.

"That's the front door! They're here!" Lily bolted out of the room and down the stairs, leaving Taylor to stare after her in mild confusion.

She really is energetic, Taylor thought, before deciding to head downstairs after her, albeit at a much more leisurely pace. As she made her way down, she saw Lily throw her arms around a female wolf who, Taylor guessed, was in her twenties. Laura smiled as she stood by.

"I'm so happy that you're back!" Lily said as she finished the hug, practically jumping from one foot to the next.

"I'm glad to see you too, Lily," Molly said as she smiled warmly, taking notice of the vixen for the first time. "And I take it that you're Taylor."

"Hi," Taylor said nervously, taking in Molly. She had brown fur, just like Laura's, with the same white patch forming a T on her cheek. She was wearing what looked to be a light blue military uniform, bearing some similarities to the Naval dress uniforms that Taylor had seen in movies back on Earth, except robins egg blue, complete with a white cap. On the front of the jacket, Taylor could see five different medals pinned, and a sheathed sword hanging at her hip, which Taylor suspected was not just decorative, as the hilt appeared to have a worn look to it, with some chips in it.

"Oh my gods! Lily, you were absolutely right about just how cute she is!" Molly said, her voice sounding a little similar to Lily's, before she stepped forward and pulled Taylor into a tight hug. "I'm so happy to meet you Taylor!" Molly said, ending the hug and ruffling Taylor's headfur.

"She prefers her official nickname, Tay-Tay, Molls," Lily said, hiding her muzzle behind her paw to snicker, as Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Hey Molly!" Shaun said as he bounded down the stairs, to be pulled into a hug much like Taylor had.

"I just can't get over how much bigger you to have gotten," Molly said to the twins as she stood back, Shaun and Lily both grinning. "As well as this pretty new addition to the family!" She gestured to a blushing Taylor, who chose to say nothing.

"Neither has Shaun, especially since he's been peeping at her while she's dressing." Lily giggled, as Shaun and Taylor's faces both grew warm from their blushing.

"It's honestly not like that, Molls." Shaun said while Lily made some kissing noises at the two as Molly rolled her eyes.

"Nice to see little Lilypad hasn't changed much," Molly chuckled as she ruffled both of the twins' headfur like she had done with Taylor's.

 

A short while later...

 

"Alrighty. That's the last of it," Ben called down the stairs as he exited Molly's old bedroom, after setting down a large trunk at the foot of the bed.

"Thanks, Uncle Ben!" Molly called back up, before resuming chatting with Laura on the couch. Taylor watched from the armchair, feeling a little uncomfortable and out of place and unsure of what she should be doing right now, like she was intruding. As though sensing Taylor's discomfort, Lily trotted down the steps, and ran right up to her, pulling her to her footpaws and practically dragged her along and back up the steps, much to Laura and Molly's amusement.

"Lily!" The surprised vixen called as she was, once again, ushered into the wolf's room, where she saw a rollaway bed had been set up next to the main bed. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, have you already forgotten? It's time for some serious girl time," Lily said. Taylor looked on the bed, seeing a towel with different cosmetic implements, much like last time, but with more items.

"Lily, I really have to study."

"You can do that after I teach you all there is to know about mascara, and how blush works with your fur type."

Here we go again, Taylor thought.

 

One make-over later...

 

"And done! See, it's not so difficult," Lily said as she inspected Taylor's paw-y work. She nodded in approval, making Taylor smile a little, in spite of herself.

I guess that this isn't so bad, Taylor thought as she looked herself over in the hand mirror that Lily was holding up. Currently, her lashes had been plumped, and she now was an expert at applying eyeliner and blush. She still kept accidentally smearing the lipstick a little, but she was improving each time she applied it.

I wonder what Shaun would think...

"You are one foxy fox!" Lily giggled, making Taylor smile.

"I see that Lilypad has been enjoying being the big sister lately." Taylor and Lily both turned to see Molly standing in the doorway, with a wide grin on her face. At some point, she had changed out of her uniform, and was now just casually dressed in a pair of jeans and a white tank top.

"Hehe, maybe," Lily said coyly while Taylor continued to blush.

"Anyways, mom sent me up to tell you that she needs your help with dinner tonight, Lilypad."

"Okay," Lily said, energetically, bounding down the stairs once more. Molly just smiled and shook her head, before her attention returned to Taylor.

"So, Taylor, Lily's told me some interesting things about you." Molly said as she walked over and took a seat next to Taylor at the foot of Lily's bed. "She said that you pretty much had a hard time of things, before Shaun found you, and brought you home."

"Oh?" Taylor said, feeling uncomfortable again, unsure of what to say in this situation, before she was surprised to find herself being pulled into another hug by the older wolf.

"Sorry, you just looked like you needed that." Molly smiled after releasing the vixen.

"Thanks," Taylor said quietly.

"Look... I know that Lily can be a little... pushy... but I promise you that she honestly means well."

"... Sometimes... it feels a little... embarrassing... putting on make-up..."

"Oh? Not much of a girly girl, eh?" Molly smirked, one arm companionably resting over Taylor's shoulder.

"No... not really..." Taylor blushed.

"So... Shaun's really going on that school trip to the ruins in the Badlands..." Taylor, caught off guard with the sudden shift in the conversation, just nodded.

"While I'm not surprised that he was chosen... I still just thought that maybe the Magi weren't going to do the trip this year... y'know, 'cause of how the creatures of the Badlands have been acting up... or at least not take any of the students along."

"Are things really bad out there?" Taylor asked.

"Well... it's just strange. The walls, as well as the many different spells and counter measures attached to them, should be more than enough to make sure that they can't get out, yet here they are, appearing inside Risen City... I don't like it..." Molly trailed off.

She's in the military... and this is making her uneasy... should Shaun be as nervous as her too? Taylor wondered.

"Well, there's no changing the Guild's mind when they've gone and made it up. I guess it's a good thing that our ship is being assigned as extra security, just in case."

"Really?"

"Yup! Our crew is going to be split up into two teams. The ground crew will be chaperoning the students along with the Magi, while the ship crew remains on board as we fly overhead, monitoring everything that happens every step of the way. All in all, it should only take about six hours for the trip, start to finish."

"Six hours?" Taylor asked.

A lot can happen in six hours, she thought, suddenly feeling a pit form in her stomach. her ears laying flat must have relayed her true feelings to Molly.

"Oh! I'm sorry to make you worry, Tay-Tay," she said as she pulled Taylor into another hug. "I'm sure that everything is going to be just fine! I was just thinking that this is all a little odd." Taylor's sense of unease did little to improve at that.

"Wait a minute... Tay-Tay?" Taylor noticed Molly's wide grin.

"What can I say, it's a cute nickname!" She giggled, making Taylor smile. Just then, there was a knock on the doorframe.

"Molly?" Laura called as she came into view in the doorway.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Your father just pulled into the driveway, and he and Benjamin both need some help with the transporting of one of their little projects from the garage into the trunk of the car... mainly as backup in case it gets loose, from what Ben described to me. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Molly said, before reaching over and hugging a surprised Taylor once more. She then made her way downstairs. Taylor breathed a sigh of relief, until she realized that Laura was still standing there, looking at her with that warm smile that she was still getting used to.

"I see that you and Lily have both been busy," she said, watching Taylor shift uncomfortably. "And I take it that as a boy, you didn't have any real inclination to learn about claw polish, lip gloss, mascara, and the like, huh?" Taylor nodded, feeling her tail try to tuck itself between her legs, despite her sitting down.

"I can't even begin to understand what it must be like, to go through all of these kinds of changes, sweetie," Laura comforted, sitting down to hug Taylor close.

This family sure does hug a lot, Taylor thought with a small smile.

"There you go! You look even prettier with that smile of yours," Laura said, making Taylor blush again, herself chuckling a little. "I want you to know though, if you are at all uncomfortable with anything, I really want you to speak up. You've been through so much already as it is."

"... I just... don't want to hurt anyone's feelings... or make them mad..."

"You won't, sweetie, I promise," Laura said. Taylor just nodded, absentmindedly playing with her tail. Laura flashed her another warm smile, before leaning over, and gently kissing Taylor's forehead. "Dinner's just about ready, sweetie," she said, before leaving. Taylor sat there for a few minutes, before she felt a slight prickling sensation on her eyes, and her vision became slightly blurred. Taylor took a moment to compose herself, and blinked back the tears, hoping not to make her mascara run.

Get ahold of yourself! Taylor thought as she took a shuddering breath, confused as to why she felt so emotional just then. She stood up, and checked herself in the hand mirror once more, satisfied that nothing was smeared and thus might bring about another impromptu tutoring session with Lily, and made her way downstairs. She saw Ben, Abe, and Molly all wrestling with a large trunk, which had many runes drawn on it in with a blue marker and was wrapped in several thick and heavy-looking chains. There was some odd high-pitched chittering coming from inside it, and periodically, it would rattle and lurch in their grasp.

"This one's especially feisty!" Ben said as they made their way out the front door.

"Really? I was just thinking that this was pretty average," Abe replied, before some of the runes started to glow, with a light green smoke beginning to waft from them.

"Oh no you don't!" Molly said as she held her paw aloft. Her sword, which Taylor now noticed resting in its sheath on the coffee table, glowed a pale gold color, and shot out, hilt first, from its sheath and into Molly's outstretched paw. Molly then began to chant in a strange language, touching the tip of the sword to the glowing runes, each one returning to its non-glowing state, the smoke dissipating instantly. Whatever was inside the trunk continued to skitter around, until Molly said Veschta, and tapped the sword onto the trunk again. There was a loud thunk, and all noise inside the trunk ceased.

"Nice work, Molly," Abe praised after they had waited and listened for anymore noise coming from the inside. Satisfied that it was out, they made quick work of carrying it out the door, and to the open trunk of the car.

"Ooookaaay..." Taylor said, before heading into the kitchen and sitting down at the table, next to Shaun.

Maybe I shouldn't worry about Shaun... Taylor though as Laura set a plate down in front of her and Shaun, smiling warmly at her again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there we are, dear readers! I hope that you enjoyed this new installment! As usual, be sure to check out my other stories, The Thaumaturgist, Hairball, Found, The Door and its sequel The Keyhole, as well my latest project I've Been Reincarnated as a Bunny Girl?!! And once again, feel free to leave a review!