As Ventus walks down the stairs, Todd can be seen through the front door running with fire conjured in his hands. Curious, her tails trail behind her as she races after him.

Upon getting out of the door, her precognition works overtime, analyzing every thread near her. Looking at Todd while in this state, she sees every thread that flows past him. In each, he gets lifted into the air by a large bird the size of an elephant in each thread. He is then brought high into the air before being released and falling. The result of the fall that she sees in the flow of every thread is that Todd doesn’t survive.

Angry at such a result, her teeth grit, tails go ram rod straight, her eyes start gleaming, and her mana floods into her surroundings. This does nothing until she looks up, spotting the enormous bird, after which her mana floods towards it, condensing the space around the enormous bird that is about to grab Todd. The bird halts, and then Ventus shrinks the space, slowly at first, but then much faster as she angrily empties her reserves.

The bird screeches, and flexes its might, causing the condensed space that is squeezing it to death to stop compressing, but the sheer amount of mana Ventus is pouring into it starts shrinking that space again. She doesn’t care that she’s already past the dizzy feeling and well into an enormous migraine as she twists whatever she’s controlling instinctively, spears of solidified space shoot into the enormous bird from the box of condensed space as Ventus collapses, face directly hitting the asphalt.

Todd runs over to the collapsed Ventus seconds after the initial solidifying of space, seeing her hit the ground. He picks her head up, shifting her body to the side so that she doesn’t have her face stuck in the asphalt. Needing his hands, he sets her head into his lap before reaching for his comm unit, messaging that urgent support is needed.

The enormous bird flexes again, breaking free from the space it was trapped in since it is no longer being maintained. It attempts to take flight, but there are holes throughout its wings, preventing the bird from taking off. Realizing this, it hobbles towards Ventus and Todd, the wounds covering its body pour out blood. There is a black band visible inside of its left leg as it manages one, and then two steps towards the duo that fought it. Striking out, the bird then collapses, managing only to strike with its damaged wing once, hitting Todd in the ribs, which is accompanied by a loud crack, and a mouthful of blood which lands on Ventus’ shirt. 

Todd takes the impact well, despite the cracking, miraculously managing to not let Ventus’ head move when he’s hit. He’s fine aside from the pain for a few minutes before breathing gets harder, needing to take in more air to stay conscious. His awareness starts to fade, only held by a single thread that snaps once he sees the medics, causing him to collapse forward, chest on Ventus’ head and trapping her ears.

The bird expires as the medics reach Ventus and Todd, causing the air to stir as, to the awakened, a plume of mana erupts, before rushing into Ventus’ body. If one was to judge the amount, it was roughly three times the amount one of the moles can hold in their bodies.

Lamu soon appears, yelling at his communicator at the guards for not spotting the bird. He stares at the corpse of the bird as the plume of mana fades, before turning his gaze to Todd as the last remnants of the plume rush into Ventus.

The medics, seeing Ventus’ slightly bloody nose, and the blood on her shirt, start to check her first. They decide to cut her shirt in case she has more injuries they can’t see immediately, revealing her soft but flat stomach. With no wound visible despite the blood, they cover her with a blanket and then after a quick check of her nose, determining that it isn’t broken, they startchecking on Todd.

Not wanting to aggravate Todd’s injuries, they gently lay him down, leaving Ventus’ head in his lap while they check his vitals and general condition. They soon confirm that he had broken ribs, in part due to a slight wheeze with each breath Todd takes. They let Lamu know that he needs scans to determine if his ribs are the only damage.

Sighing, Lamu turns his gaze from Todd to Ventus, before he starts recording as he sees the last traces of the mana plume spiral in complex, glowing formations, occasionally splitting before rejoining as they travel down Ventus’ tails. Soon the mana spirals reach the base of her tails, where threads seem to scatter across Ventus’ entire body, cycling more, and then fading into her brain. 

Checking the recording, Lamu sighs. There are glowing lines that spiral the mana, but all of the thin offshoots are unable to be seen due to the barely visible glow. Even still, he sends the video to R&D, considering it vital to future development. He starts walking away when he hears a soft, feminine groan. 

“Get him those tests, and then tell him he has a few days of leave. He earned them by helping fight off the beast. And it sounds like you won’t need to worry about moving Ventus”

After saying that, he has to turn away as a small smile graces his face. Forcing his expression to be neutral, he turns back as Ventus wakes up. 

“Good morning sleeping beauty. Not even ten minutes after getting into trouble you find more. We’re investigating how the beast got past the guards, but what you did was dangerous.”

Blinking tiredly, Ventus asks “Is Todd okay? I saw him splatter, and then I acted, trying to save him.” Her ears start flicking as they feel compressed, causing Todd to laugh slightly before a groan of pain emerges, vibrating in Ventus’ ears.

Shooting up, the thin blanket sliding off of her, Ventus turns several shades of red as she looks where her head was laying. Panicking, she stumbles away while rapidly asking “How? Why? For how long?” Only then noticing the slight breeze upon her stomach, which she covers with her arms, “Why was this cut?

Lamu chuckles and places his hand on Ventus’ shoulder after walking over. He then takes an authoritative tone, before declaring “Despite the trouble you found, you saved another awoken, who will in turn save countless civilians. Because of this contribution to the nations of our planet, you will need to attend a private ceremony in a few days, to be properly awarded. Also” he pauses, glancing meaningfully at Ventus’ plain, now cut clothes, eyes focusing on her covered stomach  briefly.  “Go buy some clothes, especially formal wear. The hairpin fits though.”

Ventus grins as her tails create a small gale from how fast they’re moving, crimson blurs at the edge of a field of white. She is so excited that she is practically vibrating as she says, “Oh that’s fantastic. I’d love to, already have something in mind in fact,” before remembering where she was supposed to go before the bird attacked. Laughing slightly and scratching her ear at her forgetfulness “Where are the researchers stationed? I was going to ask Todd, but, well, all this happened.”

Lamu shakes his head, unable to hide his smile any more before paging Avery. “Don’t worry, you’ll be taken there soon, by one of the lead researchers in fact. You may even recognize them.”

Avery POV:

Avery exits her room once more. Most of her plushies are arranged how they were, but a rather large fox plush has a damp tail, with parts of it on a brush next to it. Avery glances at the end of the hall before walking over to Tesa’s room to collect a small fragment of horn for research. On the tile floor in front of Tesa’s room is a now dented bucket with muddy water surrounding it in a large puddle. A smile curls onto Avery’s face, quickly disappearing, but she hopes Tesa got some retribution pulled on her. She doesn’t like dealing with her at all, only orders and interesting data keep them talking.

Tesa rushes out, bits of something silvery-white stuck in her horns. As Tesa passes by Avery, the faintest smell of fish can be observed before she’s past. Blinking in surprise, Avery finally sees similar scenes down the hall, both in the rest of the woman’s wing, and further into the men’s. Shaking her head, before looking at Ventus’ room again, hoping that the small prankster is alright. Her communicator buzzes then, and she heads towards the front, White labcoat brilliant against the tiles as her heels click steadily. She deftly avoids the puddles in her way as she makes her way out front.

Ventus POV:

After pacing back and forth for a couple of minutes, eyes monitoring the threads around her, she sees Avery walk out in her lab coat, heels making her long legs stand out. Blushing wildly at a couple of the threads she sees, so much so that her ears even turn red while her tails stir up wind again, she turns away and takes a partial step, running into Lamu. The sudden impact sends Ventus sprawling on her butt. Thankfully none of her tails get trapped under her, but the impact dazes her.

Lamu turns back towards Ventus, and then turns away, ignoring it.

Avery however, walks quickly towards Ventus and reaches out, pulling back and looking behind her for Tesa twice before working up the nerve to scratch right behind Ventus’ left ear. Immediately Ventus’ ears shoot straight up, her entire chest vibrating as loud purrs echo out. Instinctively, Ventus closes her eyes as she enjoys the scritching, tails vibrating in place, unable to wag from how fast they’re moving. Ventus gets lost in the feeling, not even noticing that Avery stopped until three minutes after she stopped, causing a whine to emit from her throat upon coming to her senses.

Avery laughs, a beautiful sound to Ventus’ ears, which flick with each part of the laugh. “You’re really not beating the fox allegations, Miss Kitsune,” before frowning, a slight blush forming on her face. “So you know my name because Todd mentioned it, but I don’t know if I heard yours properly. Mind standing up, looking at me, and informing me?”

Ventus slowly stands up and turns around. If you don’t include Avery’s heels, Ventus’s ears would meet the tip of Avery’s head, with her heels though, she has to crane her neck to be able to see Avery's eyes. Even as every part of her yells at her not to, she still does it. Looking up to stare into Avery’s icy blue eyes, she meekly says “Ventus” before shaking her entire body, shuddering. She looks back into Avery’s eyes, glaring as if in challenge, despite the blush creeping up her cheeks again as she thinks about how they look real enough to send a shiver down her spine.

A screech is heard, as Tesa runs out of the building, heading straight for Ventus, knife in her hand. As she gets closer, she raises the blade, slamming it right where Avery and Ventus were standing half a second ago, wind spiraling from the point of impact. She looks around wildly before spotting Ventus again and charging once more.

Lamu, seeing this, clears his throat. This is all it takes for Tesa to stop in her tracks, fish still stuck in her horns. “So, you’re getting locked up Tesa. This is unacceptable behavior, especially for an awoken who has so many more responsibilities than a civilian. Ventus, how many times did she succeed?”

Ventus, surprised at the question, automatically answers “She would have stabbed me seven times in all of the threads I saw the flow of. Three of those would have been in my heart, which with the wind burst, ended my view of those threads. From what I know due to the giant bird, this means death.” She pauses, her ears going red, though she manages to keep her face from flushing the same color.. She finishes by saying “also, she would have gotten Avery twelve times, due to Avery leaping in front of the blade to protect me in those threads” Suddenly coming back to her senses, she stops answering automatically, instead asking, “Wait, how did you know about that?”

Lumo glares at Tesa before answering Ventus, “Vincent told me.”

Avery, on the other hand, looks intrigued at Ventus’ reply before glaring at Tesa. A blue light appears under Tesa, causing ice to spread over Tesa’s feet and legs, binding her down before she hmphs and walks over to Ventus, icy mana spreading around as her desire for Ventus being unable to escape, yet not being harmed rises higher than nearly any other desire. With a click, the icy mana surges. 

Ventus tenses up, eyes darting in almost every direction they can, trying to see the ice forming, but forgetting to look beneath herself, causing her legs to be put in similar bindings as were on Tesa, though far weaker, less cold. Flexing her legs, Ventus causes large cracks to form in the ice binding her. While she could traverse one of the threads, she doesn’t know if she’d bring the ice with her. 

Before she can do anything else, Avery is upon her, two fingers pushing Ventus’ chin up as Avery closes her eyes, placing a quick peck on Ventus’ lips. She licks her own after, a sound of satisfaction clear in Ventus’ ears as she turns brighter than a lobster, stammering.

Satisfied, Avery snaps her fingers again, causing the ice to shatter around Ventus. “You’re coming with me Ventus, we need to test the limits of your abilities. While standard practice, you normally don’t get one of the lead researchers.”

Ventus, quickly turning red as a large chunk of blood rushes to her face, chooses to flee instead of listening. Only managing a brief, “Sorry Lamu,” before traveling along the threads, grabbing Lamu as she does so. On top of a nearby, two story building, she reappears before Lamu does. Without waiting for Lamu to orient himself, she demands, “Explain. Now. Why is she suddenly so assertive?”

Starting as a chuckle, soon Lamu is laughing loudly enough that it echoes throughout the city. “Two reasons, the first is that she loves fluffy things, and is able to overcome nerves when it comes to that. Second, you managed to get Tesa out of her hair fully, meaning she no longer needs to hold back. Oh, and don’t worry about getting me back to base, you have your hands full with something else.” as he jumps off the building, landing two stories down with only a slight bending of his knees he laughs more before taking off in a sprint.

Glancing around, Ventus’ heart seems to stop momentarily, before she jumps away due to having seen ice form in the threads near her. “Avery, we don’t need to fight. I just had questions for Lamu. I’ll go take the tests now.” Dodging more ice, which starts coming quicker, she sees Avery clutching a clipboard, jotting down things as the ice goes faster, and with fewer gaps. 

Frowning, Ventus decides to do her best to only rely on her sight, dodging or deflecting with her tails, every piece of ice coming her way. After five minutes of the ice storm intensifying, Ventus starts getting a bit out of breath, however instead of a frown, a wild grin is present. Taking enough time to see Avery drink something before the assault speeds up more. At this point, the only paths available to escape getting hit have an error margin the thickness of a hair. Even then, that assumes Ventus is deflecting nine or more different shards each time. Two more minutes of this pass, with only tiny cuts on Ventus to show for it, the ice stops. However, her shirt has a line cut on each of her sleeves from when she only narrowly avoided a barrage of needle thin ice spikes. Her pants have several holes in them, mostly on the legs near her knees. The biggest of the holes is on the back of her left knee, and was caused when Ventus had to jump forward to avoid a fast growing ice stalagmite.

Avery calls up “You can come down now. I’ll need to see your injuries, but I’m certain you scored well.”

Her utter confidence makes a small smile bloom on Ventus’ face as she travels down a spatial thread, not quite having realized the state of her clothes due to having focused so heavily on dodging. Avery, upon viewing Ventus’ state of dress, sighs. “You know, for such a beautiful woman, you treat your clothes as if you were a man. You did pass though, better than even Vincent, who lost the use of his shoulder for a day before recovering.”

Looking over at Ventus, Avery puts her pen in her mouth, chewing on it in confusion as she sees Ventus’ ears fold tight against her skull, and her tails, which were waving from the compliment, froze.

Avery gets closer and waves her hand in front of Ventus’ face, trying to get her attention.

Becoming aware again, Ventus growls, traveling a few feet away from Avery via a nearby thread. She blinks rapidly, trying to prevent herself from crying, and seeing this, Avery closes the small distance before leaning down. She wraps her arms around Ventus while squeezing tightly, compressing both of their chests in the process. “I don’t know what I said that was wrong, but you don’t need to cry, Ventus. I read some of the reports, and I know nothing you used to own fits anymore.” Thinking for a bit before a smile spreads across her face “You know, you seem pretty cute when you act this way. Being all flustered I mean. However, I think we need to go shopping.”

Defeated, Ventus slumps down, tails hanging limply. Thinking about how her behaviour has varied wildly. After thinking about it, she quietly, barely a whisper says “I just had a thought. You know how I wasn’t a kitsune until a day ago, right?”

Avery manages to hear Ventus’ whisper and nods, agreeing, but not quite seeing where this is going yet.

“So what if I’m still going through changes? Most of the other awoken only spent an hour or two away from what I know, but I spent five months.

Avery smiles, and then Ventus feels a sharp prick, as Avery accurately gets a needle into a vein in her right arm, taking a sample. “We’ve seen something similar in the others, though not to this extent so you may be right. I’ll get this off to the lab tomorrow. We’re going shopping now though so you have outfits, and I’ll cover it, since I don’t want any of the male awoken to see you with your clothes like this. Sure, nothing is actually showing, but even so. You really do need to care about your appearance more.”

Ventus blinks at the sudden offer and pouts, “I spent several hours on my tails last night, you were watching the entire time. But sure we can go shopping. First, lean down please”

As Avery does so by bending her knees, Ventus stands as tall as she can, getting her mouth to Avery’s ear before whispering, “The change was more than just my species, so that could be part of it too. Don’t miss that part at all.”

Without waiting for Avery to process it, she grabs her arm and travels with her along the threads, taking several different ones in the blink of an eye to reach downtown.