While exploring the elven village, Sophia and Steph ran into Alex, the fox-man being responsible for the place. He informed Sophia about the changes in the nearby forest, mainly about the gigantic trees that had appeared a while ago. The entire area around them had changed, and the place was brimming with excess magic, which seemed to have an effect on the plants around as everything had turned completely overgrown and was brimming with life. Even the air itself had such a high concentration of magic that it was visible to the bare eye of the sisters, and one could even feel it.

“So, what did you forget to tell him?” On their way back to the village, after Alex decided to stay a little longer in the forest, Steph addressed her sister. “What did you do?”

“…” The tiger didn’t answer at first. “Maya, Fen, and Aura might’ve created those gigantic trees by infusing a sapling with a considerable amount of rare magic of their own…”

“Really? Sounds fun! There were four massive trees, though?”

“I, uhh… one of them might’ve been my work…”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Ahaha…” The older sister awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“So, how do you do that? A fifth tree surely won’t make a difference, right?”

“Didn’t you see what kind of chaos we already created?!” Sophia got loud.

“That’s why a little more won’t matter, right?”

"What if you go completely ham with your magic, and it reaches the village because you have way too much of it?"

“Ah, right, that would be bad…” Steph looked a little disappointed. “But then I want to create a massive tree in the middle of a jungle or other fitting places! Just like in those fantasy movies we watched together! I want to make a world tree or what they were called! So big that those four you all created pale in comparison!”

“Ahaha, we’re sisters, alright…” She had to chuckle for a moment. “That’s already on my to-do list. Chloe wants to do it, too.”

“YAY!”

“She also knows a jungle we’re planning to visit.”

“Let’s go!”

“In spring.”

“I hate you!” The dog-girl started pouting. “Stupid cats…”

“Hey!”

“I have no intention to apologize or take anything back.” Her pouting got stronger. “If this goes on like that and you and Maya might even start hibernating at some point…”

“I did think about doing that before…”

“Cats don’t hibernate!”

“…”

"Anyway, if it goes on like that, I have to go exploring alone with Chloe for the next couple of months!"

“That doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

“…” Steph went silent.

“And the pout changed into a bright smile~.” Sophia naturally noticed her change. “You sure are a big fan of the pink one, huh?”

“Yes!” Her reply came the moment the tiger finished her sentence. “I mean… Yes, but… We just got reunited, and I want spent time with you! Exploring with Chloe sounds amazing, but I want to do it with you, too!”

"Well, I guess that's fair. More than fair.” She nodded a few times. “I feel the same, too. But… but… cold!”

“Come on, idiot… Let’s have some fun! Wait! I was able to change my entire being with magic, and you all created a massive lake and changed the whole ecosystem of this forest! I’m sure you can make yourself feel warm with magic, right? Or maybe create a warm pocket around you and your cat friends while walking around!”

“That’s, uhh… actually pretty easy to do. I already tried it a few times, and it works flawlessly!"

“Then stop complaining!”

“It’s pretty awkward, though… When everything around you is cold and uncomfy, and you’re toasty warm so that you can run around in a t-shirt while everyone else is wearing a coat and stuff…”

"Then don't make it toasty! Just warm enough that your cat's brain can deal with it! You can still wear winter clothes, but at a temperature around you that is not too harsh!”

"A-Ah…” Sophia’s expression turned awkward. “I… I hadn’t thought about that…”

“Did you get stupider after coming to this world, sis…?” She stared right at her in return.

“Oi!” The tiger got loud.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“…” It took her a second. “I got a lot more easygoing, and I fail to think things through more often than not… I do be stupid at times, though…” She couldn’t deny it.

“I can see that. Well, it’s fun, though. Easygoing is best!”

“Sure is!”

“Alright!” Steph raised her arm high into the air. “That means we can go exploring asap, right!”

“To a degree, I think. We can look at many things, but there's still Anna and Ari. They're friends of ours and will accompany us when we go exploring for real. We promised them. They’re still attending the magic academy in the capital, though. The two will graduate in spring, and then we'll travel the world."

“Aww…” She didn’t like that reply. “Well, it can’t be helped if you already made concrete plans with the rest of your group… STILL! Before spring, I want to do lots with you and see all kinds of things! Make some lukewarm weather around you, and let's go!"

“You sure know how to motivate someone.”

“I sense a hint of sarcasm, but I take it!"

“Good!” The dog-girl smiled at her sister. “By the way, wasn’t there something else kinda odd about that, uhh... magic forest?”

"Hmm?" Sophia tilted her head before looking around. The two were already halfway back to the village and a good bit away from the gigantic trees. "Eh...?" She then noticed that the trees closer to the village had already lost all their leaves. The bushes and other types of plants were significantly reduced, as well. It already was winter, after all. “Wait! Why was everything there still lush and green?!”

“That’s what I wanted to ask.”

“Hmm…” The tiger gave it some thought. “Maybe because the trees work on magic now? They don't seem to need nutrients anymore, and frost most likely won't be an issue for them, either. No need to get rid of their leaves to conserve energy?”

“Sounds like it would make sense.” Steph nodded a couple of times. “Then again, I don’t really get how magic works, so…”

“Welcome to the club.” She also still had some slight gaps in her knowledge about it, after all.

“I wonder if that forest’s evergreen now… Oh, do you think you can control it?”

“Control it?” Sophia couldn’t follow her.

“Green all year around is nice and all, but plants, trees included, look way nicer during spring when everything blooms and in fall when the foliage turns colorful.”

“Ahh.”

“Flowers forever blooming and trees having colorful fall foliage forever would be amazing, wouldn’t it?”

“That WOULD be amazing!” The blonde liked the idea.

“Oh, that fox-man… Alex! He mentioned the hot spring would be finished soon, right? Wouldn’t it be amazing to make the area around it look like it’s always fall? Or maybe, if we can find some cherry blossoms…”

“I really like the sound of that.” She was getting excited. "Chloe was the one who came up with the idea of infusing saplings with magic to let them grow. Maybe she also has an idea of how to do that!"

“Chloe’s amazing!”

“She sure is~.”

“Let’s go and ask her!” Steph raised her voice. “The hot spring with everyone sounds amazing, so I want something nice to look at for the occasion!”

“…” The tiger tilted her head. "I'm sure there will be plenty of nice things to look at, and you haven’t even met Ari and Anna yet.”

“…” She went silent for a second while her mind visibly wandered for a moment. “You win that round, sis.”

“Hehe.”

“That being said, a beautiful background would still be nice!”

“Fair enough.”

“That’s why, let’s go!” The dog-girl’s motivation soared once again.

“Sure~.” She was a big fan of her motivation. “Chloe and Maya went to the castle, though. Before going there, we must match our stories first…” Her expression turned complicated. "A year is a very long time, isn’t it? No need to get specific there and add details like mentioning it’s been a year, right?”

“You and your technically not lying…” Steph rolled her eyes before continuing. “Okay with me, though. Same with how we got separated. It’s rather complicated, painful, and we’d rather not talk about it.”

“I love you.”

“Hehe.” She liked her response. “Even better, we actually do not know where our parents are right now and how they’re doing. It’s perfect.”

“I wouldn’t call it perfect, far from it, but it certainly helps our case here."

“We’re not lying, after all.”

“Technically, yes~.”

“Maya told me that all children turn out to be a tiger when one of their parents was one, as well. Are their genes dominant or something like that?”

“That’s how I understood it, yeah. I mean, there are always exceptions for things like that, especially when I'm involved because neither I nor my magic cares about catastrophes most of the time, but…”

“Well, if it’s one parent… Don’t we have a workaround for that, too?”

“Hmm?” Sophia tilted her head again. “Right! I tend to forget about it because he's been there since my birth, and to me, he is my father, and you're 100% my full sister, but we do have different fathers at the end of the day, huh?”

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

"Again, I wouldn't call it perfect, but it certainly helps our case here once more." The tiger had to repeat herself.

“Ahaha, good counter.” The violet-haired girl let out a small chuckle. “I can’t believe how well your technically not lying tactic works.”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?!”

“In many ways, yes.” Steph wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “There’s still the part of our reunion. How do you plan to weasel yourself out of that?”

“You suddenly popped up right in front of me.” The tiger smiled at her. “Exactly what happened, too.”

“I hate you…”

“Why?!”

“Because that’s too easy!”

“It’s great, isn’t it?”

“Sure.” The dog-girl rolled her eyes once again.

Once the basics of their story were taken care of, the sisters tried to come up with more details they could share on their way back to Sophia's treehouse to use the existing portal to return to the capital.

 

 

 

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