Derek ended up staying with us the rest of the afternoon and through dinner. We didn't spend the entire time hidden away in the bedroom though, after the two of us finished getting caught up we joined Lia and Soneya in the living-room so my new friends could get to know my old friend a bit better.

The fact that all three of us had tails and fuzzy ears still freaked him out a little, but not in a bad way. More like he was just really curious and amazed, which made sense. Up until last week foxgirls and wolfgirls simply didn't exist, now he was hanging out with three of them.

He also admitted at one point that he was still a little uneasy about me being trans, but he acknowledged that that was his problem not mine. It was more about him trying to reconcile the guy he thought I was, the guy he thought he was friends with all those years, with the person he now knew I'd been all along.

When it got around dinner time Derek suggested the four of us could go out and grab a bite somewhere, but neither Soneya or myself felt like going out to a restaurant again just yet. Not after finding that picture of ourselves someone took at the restaurant in Montreal. So instead he asked about ordering something in, he even offered to treat.

I was tempted to decline since we had plenty of food from our shopping trip the day before, but nothing was going to spoil on us right away and the offer of a free meal was too good to pass up.

Derek picked since he was buying, and we ended up ordering from a new Moroccan place I'd never tried before. It was a bit of an adventure for Soneya and Lia too, but the food was really good. We made a point of keeping the flyer that came with the delivery, so we'd be able to order from them again some time.

By the time we were all finished eating it felt like things between Derek and I were better again. And both Soneya and Lia seemed ok with him too, which was nice. He didn't hang around too much longer, it was only about a half hour or so after we'd finished dinner when he decided to head out.

I walked him to the door, then before he left he took a moment to speak with me in private again. He wanted to let me know that he was done with Curtis, and he suggested I shouldn't bother reaching out to the guy anymore either. I still didn't know what it was our other friend said that was so offensive, but from the way Derek reacted to it I figured I was probably better off not knowing.

After that little discussion he bid the three of us a good evening then he took off. Soneya and I watched some more cartoons with Lia before eventually calling it a night.

Tuesday morning we were up not long after sunrise. We all took turns in the shower, and I used my water magic to dry everyone off so nobody had to deal with wet fur or hair. Then Soneya got in some practice with her heat magic. The two of us made breakfast together, but instead of turning on the toaster or the stove she supplied the heat. Which in all honesty was pretty wild, watching her toast bread and heat the frying pan with her mind. Then when the food was all ready the three of us sat down for breakfast together.

"I guess I should probably reach out to my manager today like my dad suggested," I commented in between bites of toast. "I avoided doing that yesterday, but dad was right. I shouldn't put it off too much longer."

Neither of my companions responded at all. Soneya was munching on her own breakfast while her eyes were glued to her phone screen, and Lia was entirely focused on her plate of scrambled eggs and toast.

The three of us ate in silence for another minute or two before I spoke up again, "We should also try and figure out something for Lia, to keep her occupied. She can't just sit around streaming cartoons all day every day, it's not healthy."

Once again the two of them remained silent, while I finished my toast.

Then I tried again, "Hey Soneya, maybe once I'm back at work you can do some homeschooling with Lia? We can probably find some resources online, then you can get her up to speed? Make sure she can read and write and do math and all the basics?"

My small sister continued to enjoy her breakfast, while the wolfgirl just sighed.

I sighed as well, then in a firm voice I stated "Put the phone down Alpine. You're just doom-scrolling, that can't be good for your mental health."

That finally got her attention. She looked over at me and shook her head, "People are starting to realize the affected water is moving upstream, word's been spreading over social media this morning."

She continued quietly, "A bunch of people in Clarksville Tennessee are sick. That's upriver from the Land Between The Lakes, about halfway between Nashville and the new mountain in Kentucky."

"There's also a bunch of people in Revelstoke British Columbia claiming to be sick now too," she added. "That's right on the Columbia River, which means it's crossed the mountains. It won't be long before a big chunk of the Pacific Northwest is affected."

"Damn," I frowned. "I thought it would take longer. I figured there'd be a few weeks before it made any big progress upstream."

"Me too," she sighed again.

I was quiet for a minute or two after that as I thought about what was going to happen as it continued to spread. It was only yesterday the government was talking about shipping water into the affected areas and telling people to relocate if they could. So far most people probably saw this as an inconvenience or a localized problem. It was an issue, and for some people it was a serious health crisis, but over-all people would see that the government had plans to deal with it.

The way things were looking now, it wouldn't be long before folks realized that there wasn't anywhere safe to relocate to. Likewise people were quickly going to figure out that unaffected sources of water were going to disappear, as demand continued to grow while safe supplies rapidly dwindled.

I felt a cold weight in my gut as I found myself wondering how long it would take before people started to panic.

"There hasn't been any official confirmation yet," Soneya commented.

Her voice pulled me out of my little spiral of catastrophe and I asked, "Of the sickness spreading?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Nothing in the States or Canada, nothing to confirm what's happening in Clarksville or Revelstoke is related to the problems in Memphis or Calgary."

"It's only a matter of time though," I said in a quiet dejected tone.

"Yeah," she agreed just as quietly.

Then after a few seconds she added, "I think I'm going to call my folks again today. Just to check in, see how they're doing."

"They're actually in one of the few areas in North America that's not connected to all this?" she added. "As far as I can tell looking at hydrology stuff online, Williamsport isn't near the Great Lakes St. Lawrence watershed, and it's not part of the Mississippi drainage basin either."

A moment later she sighed once more, "Except we know it also spreads by rain. So it's probably going to hit them sooner or later. Maybe that's how it jumped the mountains? Or how it's getting upriver faster than we expected."

I reached over and gave her a gentle side-hug, "Try not to get too upset ok? But yeah, call your folks. Actually I'm going to call mine too. Work can wait, I'd rather check in with my mom and dad."

Soneya asked after I let go of her, "What were you saying about sending Lia to school?"

"I was thinking maybe we should try homeschooling her?" I replied. Then I gave her a smile, "And be we I meant you, since with any luck I'll be back at work again next week."

"Why?" our small sister asked as she finally joined the conversation.

The wolfgirl nodded, "I'm wondering the same thing. Are you thinking she'll eventually need to get a job or something?"

I shrugged, "I don't know about a job, but I think it's important she knows how to read and write and can handle basic arithmetic. She should have all the common skills and knowledge to get by in modern human society right? Like how to use the internet, how phones and mail and messaging works. She definitely needs to learn about money and how that works."

Soneya took a deep breath then let out a long sigh. She looked over at the younger foxgirl for a few seconds before responding, "I guess you're right? I think it's got to be up to her though, and I don't even know if she knows enough to make the decision yet. What I mean is, fundamentally speaking, is she a fox who looks like a person? Or has she become a person who still has some vulpine traits?"

"What do you think Lia?" she addressed our small sister directly. "Do you want to learn to be more like a person, do you want to know more about how human society works so you can be part of it? Or are you happier staying separate from all that?"

I added, "You don't have to make a decision right now Lia. And it's ok if you don't know the answer yet. You can also change it later if you want."

Lia looked thoughtful for a few seconds. Then in a quiet sombre voice she responded, "Back when we were camped at Ruisseau Bascon we all talked about what we wanted and what we were hoping for. I told you both that there's something important the three of us have to do together. I still don't know what that is yet, but I feel like we're going to find out before too long? Until then I just want to watch cartoons."

"We travelled a long way to get back here to your den Tori," she added. "Now that we're here I think we should all take the time to enjoy being safe and warm and dry and well-fed."

Soneya and I were both quiet for a few moments after that. I couldn't help thinking that Lia was right, that after our struggle to get home and get safe maybe we've earned the right to take a few days to just do nothing and unwind. Especially considering the fact that I was still on vacation until Monday.

On the other hand there was definitely something ominous about what she'd just said. I'd actually forgotten she told us about some sort of important work the three of us were supposed to do together, it was sort of an oddball thing she'd mentioned when we camped Friday night. And with everything else that had happened since then it completely slipped my mind.

From the look on Soneya's face I figured she was thinking about that too, the mysterious 'important something' we were apparently going to find out about soon. Then it turned out she was thinking a few steps ahead of me, and I was surprised at what she had to say next.

"We should stock up on a few more things as soon as the stores open this morning," the wolfgirl decided. "We all need more clothes, and we definitely need more footwear. I know winter's still a few months away but I think we should get some winter boots and warm clothes too, just so we're prepared."

She saw the questioning look on my face so she elaborated without waiting for me to ask, "We have no idea how things are going to go in the next days or weeks. It hasn't even been a full week since those mountains appeared and there's already disasters unfolding around us. As much as I hope things will get better, I'd rather not take the chance."

"Ok Soneya," I nodded slowly. "You're right. We can hit up some thrift stores for most stuff, clothes and outerwear. We might even get some good deals on winter wear, since it's a bit early for people to be looking for that. Some thrift places sell shoes too, so we can check that as well. Then hit the discount place for bras and panties. And there's a shoe outlet where we can get inexpensive footwear, if we don't find what we need at the thrift stores."

"Sounds like a plan," she responded. "So that's our morning. While we're waiting for the stores to open maybe we can come up with a list of whatever else we might need, or stuff we'll want to stock up on. I'll put off calling my folks until after we're done shopping."

With breakfast out of the way we washed the dishes and tidied up a bit, then sat down together on the sofa to work out a plan for shopping.

That was pretty straightforward, I already knew the best thrift places in the area and where to get the best deals on clothes and shoes and stuff like that. It got a bit more stressful though when Soneya started talking about shelf-stable foods and survival gear.

I felt some growing anxiety as I asked, "Do you really think it's going to get that bad, that we won't be able to get groceries anymore? If that's the case we probably won't be safe here regardless."

"I really don't know Tori," she replied as she slowly shook her head. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid? But I look at the way this is progressing, and all I can see is people starting to panic as soon as they figure out what's coming. Right now the only things we have going for us is we're pretty sure that the changed water is safe for the three of us, and we all have some limited magic."

She continued, "Actually you and I have the perfect combination for survival, I think? If you can pull water out of the air we'll never have to worry about getting something to drink right? And our little test this morning proved that I can make enough heat to cook with. You and Lia have already made it clear I warm up the bedroom and bed at night, so I can probably keep the three of us warm through the winter if necessary. And I can think of a few ways our magic could be used to defend ourselves, if we ever got in a dangerous situation with other people. That just leaves access to food as our main concern."

That didn't really do anything to help with the anxiety I was feeling, but it made sense.

"Ok Soneya," I sighed. "I don't know how much money we can put into long-term survival food supplies, or where we're going to store it. And I really hope we don't actually need it. I get what you're saying though. So let's deal with the clothes and stuff like that first, since we know for sure we're going to need that. Then maybe we can figure out some sort of strategy for what we'll do in a worst case scenario."

"Sounds good," she agreed.

With our plans made and a list written up, the three of us headed out together so we'd be at the first thrift shop as soon as they opened.

PurpleCatGirl

This is a commissioned story, so updates only happen when patrons commission a new chapter. Patrons always get chapters one or two weeks before anyone else, so if you're eager to get caught-up join are Patreon and you'll get all the latest chapters and new stories! And if you'd like to help move this story along, think about sponsoring a chapter!
https://www.patreon.com/purplecatgirl