copper wrote: Won’t Bino throw a wobbly?”
What is a wobbly?
It used to be a common term to (mockingly) describe someone (usually a child) crying/throwing a strop when things didn't go their way.
Housepets: Living with change.
Chapter 16. A gateway and a dream come true.
Fox’s house
King woke to the feel of movement. Though sleep was now out of his grasp he decided he could at least doze around for a bit.
‘If it is Fox that is moving around then he should leave me alone.’ He thought as he snuggled further down under the covers. This plan was soon thrawted by the covers being ripped off and something smacking him in the face.
“PILLOW FIGHT!” Fox yelled and hit King for a second time.
Too disorientated to put up any sort of defence, King desperately tried to crawl out of the makeshift fort, heading for the relative safety that was anywhere else. This goal was not achieved. “Ah I yield I yield! Please have mercy!”
Fox dropped the pillow onto the floor. “You know you are supposed to hit back right?” He clicked his tongue and smiled. “But at least you are finally awake anyway.”
“Gimme five more hours.”
“No. Come on get up. Dad has already left.”
“So?” King replied, grabbing the fallen pillow and resting his head on it.
“So we are going to get up, clean this mess, make breakfast, get presentable, walk out the door, march down the road, knock on the new guy’s door and give them that tour that we promised.”
King thought about it for a minute before replying. “Five more hours.”
“Well then I guess we shall have to see how long you can resist being tickled then instead I suppose.” Fox said, crooking his fingers and slowly edging them towards King’s exposed feet.
King’s eyes widened in fear. “NOOOO!” He yelled, leaping up. “I’m up I’m up!”
Fox grinned. “See that wasn’t too hard now was it?”
“How you get away with being called the quiet one I shall never know.”
Fox’s grin merely widened.
Home
Kura woke with a start. Her head swiveled, eyes open, alert. Something had caused her to waken…some gut feeling told her that something was not right. But there was nothing out of the ordinary to see…unless you count not waking up in your usual bed as ordinary. She groaned and flopped back onto the bed.
‘Stupid brain. Could of done with more sleep.’ She thought as she rubbed her scalp. She froze as she saw her hand. It was covered in fur! She opened her mouth to yell…
‘Oh wait, cat, now I remember. Duh.’
She yawned and looked around. Sammy was still curled up in the corner of the bed, fast asleep so she carefully removed the covers and got out of bed, trying not to wake him. Not too difficult really. If he was anywhere near as tired as she was then he should be asleep for a few more hours. She would be too if not for two recently emerged feelings. One from her growling stomach and the other…well the other one was solved by a quick trip to the bathroom. With one problem sorted she made her way downstairs, with a fair amount of leaning on the banister to combat the grogginess. When she arrived in the kitchen she immediately started rifling through the nearest cupboard…then the second nearest…then the next one…until every single cupboard had been searched. It wasn’t until she had made her way to the fridge that she actually remembered the situation.
‘Right yeah, no food. Well maybe I can at least have some water…oh yeah, no glasses.’ She sighed, irritated.
‘Well then I guess I’ll go vegetate on the sofa for a bit. If I can’t wake up properly then I’ll just go back to sleep.’ As she made her way into the living room she noticed the general colour had changed from last time. Kura yawned and rubbed her eyes.
‘Kitsune do a random paint job or something?’ She gazed around.
‘No, wall colour is still the same…the general hue of the room just seems…well…different.’ It was then that she focused on the centre of the living room, the bit where the colour was most…off.
‘The heck’s that? What do I do what do I do what is that what do I do?’ “Umm…umm...umm…SAMMY!” She yelled.
Sammy was about as happy as he could be in the dream world. No dark world that clearly had a problem with normal temperatures, no weird crystals, nothing at all. Instead he dreamt he was a Pokemon trainer and was about to smite his opponents final Pokemon and win the match. (Pokemon was a recurring dream for him.) He opened his mouth to call out the command an-
“SAMMY!”
“AAAAAH!” He yelled, twisting around. This resulted in him falling out of bed and flat on his face.
Thud. “Oww my nose.” He sat up and rubbed his nose. It felt different than it normally did but he was too groggy to think about it right now. He stood up and looked at the bed, finding it empty. “I swear Kura was there last night.” He blinked sharply, surprised at how different his voice sounded. Higher in pitch more like a kid’s than hi…
‘Oh yeah, dog. I thought that was all a dream to be honest.’ He looked at his paws for confirmation, shrugged and shook his head, clearing away some of the sleepiness. The mystery of the strange nose shape suddenly becoming clear.
“SAMMY GET DOWN HERE NOW!”
“What did I do this time?” He grumbled, making his way out the door and down the stairs. He found his sister in the living room. “What do you want now? I…oh. That is what you want.”
In the middle of the living room there was a giant patch of colour. Not even a recognisable one. It somehow seemed like a distorted mixture of every single colour.
“The hell is this?” He asked her.
“How should I know? I came in and found it. It’s making the entire room seem off coloured.”
“Looks hazy.”
“Hazy?” She repeated. “Uh-huh.”
Sammy sighed. “Look at the edges, they look…fuzzy. Though most things do without my glasses so maybe it’s just me.”
She squinted “No it’s not you. This…thing is definitely fuzzy round the edges.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Dare you to touch it.” Kura said.
“What? Why would I touch that? Look at that thing! There is some weird crap going on there.”
She chuckled lightly. “Yeah that does seem like an appropriate description. I still dare you to touch it.”
“Fine. Just let me go put my glasses on.” He stomped off upstairs to fetch them. “You owe me.” He stated once he had returned.
“Yeah yeah yeah, just get on with it.”
“Shut up or I will push you in.” It was an idle threat but Kura closed her mouth regardless. Sammy walked forwards until he was within touching distance of the…thing. He took a deep breath and flicked it with his finger. Nothing. In fact his finger seemed to vanish upon contact only to reappear when he removed it. “Well that’s weird.” He muttered. A sudden thought came to him and he grinned to himself. He plunged his arm into the spot and yelled. “AGH MY ARM!”
“OH MY GOD!” Kura yelled, running over to him. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”
Grinning he pulled his arm out and showed it to her. “Nothing. Just wanted to scare you.”
“…you *******.” She punched his shoulder. “The heck do you think you’re playing at? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“You love it. Look though, it is really weird. See I put my hand in and it just disappears. I wonder what is in there.”
“Why don’t ‘cha put your head in and find out?”
“You know what, I think I will.”
Kura blinked in surprise. “You are crazy.”
“Crazy? No just…curious. It is magic right?”
“Umm well I suppose so.”
“So fox boy said we are immune to that stuff right?”
“Pph not likely.” Kura folded her arms. “Isn’t transformation and dimension hopping magic too?”
“Well yeah I guess. But maybe coz it didn’t hurt us.”
“Moving around hurt my stomach.”
“Don’t be a wuss.” Suddenly, Sammy leant forwards and stuck his head into the thing.
“NO WAIT DO-…argh, idiot.” She didn’t have to wait long before he pulled out. She raised her eyebrow expectedly.
“Sooooo cooool! There is like stars and crap! Like in space but with oxygen and a floor! I’ll be back in a second. Just need to get some stuff.”
“Wait what do you mea-…and he is gone again.” She sighed as her brother ran off upstairs before turning back to the thing. She kept a close watch on it just in case it did anything…weird…well weirder.
“Done.” Sammy said, clipping on his pouch as he wandered back into the living room.
Kura grimaced. “I know that look. What do you have inside your pouch and why did you need to go get it?”
“Stuff. I’m going in so I brought some stuff just in case something happened.”
“What kind of-…wait what? You’re doing what?”
“I’m going in.” He repeated.
“In? You mean that thing?” She pointed to the thing.
“Yup. The thing.”
“…ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?”
Sammy grinned and shrugged. “Probably. But it looked cool in there…and I didn’t see fox boy upstairs. So I am guessing he caused the thing and I want to explore it because there isn’t anything else to do.”
“Aren’t we getting a tour later? Isn’t that something to do.”
“Ppph, that involves people. I hate people.”
“No it doesn’t, it involves two dogs.”
Sammy rolled his eyes. “Fine but my point still stands. I hate social contact.”
“No you don’t! You just don’t trust anyone.”
“Look I’m going in whether you want to or not. But if you don’t come with me then…I won’t go on the tour with you.”
Kura gave him a look that could kill.
“Don’t give me that look. You are curious too. Your stupid tail is flicking with excitement…weirdly enough. Urgh I still can’t associate that comment with you.”
“It is weird I know but I kinda like this new body. Makes me feel…agile. Sigh Fine I’ll go with you. But I swear to god if you do ANYTHING stupid in there I will never talk to you again.”
“That seems like more of an incentive than a threat.”
“WILL YOU JUST GET IN THAT BLOODY THING!”
He chuckled as he grabbed her paw, tugging her towards whatever it was that was in their living room.
Kitsune slept. Before he had been able to slink off home to his own bed he had been ambushed by Pete and Dragon and had been taken to their usual U&U playing location. And unfortunately they had both wanted to talk to him…and talk they did, all night long. It was a very important conversation so he couldn’t complain much. That didn’t stop him from doing a little though. They had told him about what Bahamut had said and, to be honest, it worried him. If it was connected then more and more individuals were being affected.
‘And it all started with these two lunkheads messing around and breaking the rules.’ He had thought to himself. But still he could not see the connection.
‘It is just a stupid game.’ He had thought to himself.
‘Did we anger something? Could that be what all the energy was? But if so why is it doing what it is doing? The memories, the missing people, the kids…what is the connection between them, the energy and of course the game we were playing? And what was with that annoying voice and its stupid riddles?’
The three of them had argued all these facts long and hard and many hypotheses had been thought of…but none of them fit. Not a single one had put them anywhere near reaching a positive conclusion to the events. They had argued for so long that eventually they had all fallen asleep where they sat. All around the table they used to play U&U on. And it was there Sammy and Kura found themselves after having walked through the gate Kitsune had left in the living room.
“Well…isn’t he…big.” Kura said after a minute of open mouthed staring.
“You mean they. Aren’t they big.”
“Well yeah sure. Who are they? Kitsune’s friends?”
“Not sure.” Sammy replied. “But if I’m not mistaken that looks like a griffin and that…oh sweet god.”
“Is that a dragon?”
“I think so…yes Kura…that is a dragon.”
“…” She looked at Sammy. “Are you okay?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“You’ve always wanted to see a dragon.”
“Yep.” Sammy said. His voice barely a whisper.
“Come on now don’t freak out from joy. Not now. Wait until after the meet and greet to freak out.”
“If we get a meet and greet. They could just leave. Just because Kitsune is nice enough to put up with us doesn’t mean they will.”
“You mean put up with you!” Kura said with a laugh. She motioned towards the gigantic forms. “Any ideas how we get up there?”
“Climb?”
“Seriously?”
“You have claws don’t you? Table looks like it is made of wood…I think. Some bloody massive tree died for this table.”
“Or a few amazon forests.” Kura sighed. “If I fall and die know that I will haunt you.”
“You already do.” Sammy retorted. He walked up to the table leg. “Hey are you able to get your claws out? Mine are just sort of always here but cat ones retract.”
“Oh well…uhh…I dunno how about this?” Kura extended her paw and shook it. Her efforts were eventually met with success. “There we go. Though I had to shake them pretty hard.” She rolled her eyes. “Love to know how cats can do that at will.”
“Huh. You’re the lucky one.” Sammy said holding his up. “Stupid dog claws. These are about one stage away from being blunt. Look at these useless piles of crap.”
Kura burst out laughing. “This being your idea and all it would make you look really stupid if you fell. Not to mention dead.” She added the last part with a smug grin.
Sammy started climbing the leg. “Shut up and climb.” He said, not deeming to look her in the eyes.
Tarot’s house
“Tarot wake up!” Sabrina shook Tarot awake. “I’ve got a bit of a problem.”
“Hmm Sabrina? Why are you here? Did you even go home?”
“Oh no I didn’t bother. I kitted myself out on the sofa. But that isn’t what the problem is!”
“Okay then what’s the matter?”
“Okay so I was keeping some of the magic items attuned to the whereabouts of those two kids, just like Kitsune suggested last night when he offered to lower some of his barriers for us, in case something happened AND SOMETHING DID HAPPEN!”
“…”
“…”
“…care to elaborate?”
“Oh right sorry Tarot. Anyway I can’t find them. One minute they were right there at home then the next they were gone. Instantly they just vanished. None of the items can find them!”
“Oh…ok yes that is a problem. Right let’s see…can you locate Kitsune?”
“I tried studying them. I noticed Pete and Dragon pay him a visit and then all three of them vanished.”
“Okay Sabrina so they probably just went back to their own place to talk, no prying ears or eyes there right?”
“Yes that makes sense.”
“And in order to not waste the energy of opening up an entirely new hole to get back Kitsune probably just left a gateway open right?”
Sabrina nodded. “Okay sure, but what relevance is that?”
“Think hard my friend. Gateways are open both ways. So if Kitsune could get back then…”
“Then Sammy and Kura could get through too. Oh. I’m…I’m sorry for waking you.” Sabrina hung her head sheepishly.
“Sabrina don’t…well…what I mean is when…"
Sigh "Look Sabrina I know you. I know how hard you strive to help others. But I’ve seen you be more worked up over these kids in the last couple of days than I have ever seen you be in your life. Heck this is on par with how worried you get about Fido.”
“I want to help them Tarot. I want to keep them safe. I…I can’t explain this feeling but it is like I need to keep them safe.”
“But you know full well that they aren’t looking for someone to fill in for a mother.”
“I know. And I don’t want to mother them.”
Tarot sighed. “Sabrina listen there is only so much someone can do in this regard before they find themselves, in some way or another, filling such a role. You may try to convince even yourself otherwise but you have to face the facts. What you truly want IS to keep them safe and look after them. You want to help them grow in this new world. That IS a mother’s job.”
“Huh. I guess...well I never thought about it in that way. But no that is crazy talk. I wouldn’t suit a role like that. And besides, they don’t want that.”
“Do you think they know what they want?”
Sabrina frowned. “Come again?”
“Would you know what was best for you if you were in their situation?”
“Well no, not really. But we have to respect their wishes.”
Tarot stared blankly at Sabrina.
“What?”
“Normally yes we would Sabrina but in this instance…no. No we don’t.”
“WHAT!”
Tarot held up her paw. “Please just allow me to explain before you get agitated. I've had some time to think about this. This world and this entire dimension is brand new to them. It is a place with new rules…ones they aren’t familiar with. Their only guide in such a place is Kitsune. A nice guy of course but totally out of his league. What they’ve lost and what they now have is something they haven’t even BEGUN to comprehend. You saw their faces. They are aware of course but the true weight of the situation has yet to hit them. And when it does the one thing they will need is safety. Someone will have to be there for them. To help them, console them and to guide them into being able to survive in this new world. With this in mind they are bound to make decisions that aren’t in their best interest. For instance have you tried to see their future yet?”
Sabrina shifted uncomfortably. “You know I can’t do that yet. I have to be with the person...and even then only the very near future.”
“Well I saw one of their actions in the near future. Given the circumstance there was no other option. The alternative is unthinkable in their minds. But the consequences of it may be severe. They will definitely secure more than one enemy due to it. But also make more than one friend too. If we do not guide them then they could make more of these decisions but ones with no positive consequences. They could end up getting into a lot of trouble.”
“I see your point Tarot. But how do I get them to accept me as…not their mother but even let me be even a slight mother role to them?”
Tarot chuckled. “Oh well now THAT is the difficult part. We’d better hop to it and think of something then.”
“Do we poke him?”
“Hmm?”
“I said do we poke him?” Kura scratched her head. “Or hit him. Or throw stuff at him. Whatever works.”
After a lengthy and definitely harrowing climb they had finally reached the top of what seemed to be a giant table. Scattered around on top were several cans of drink and some papers with notes scribbled onto them.
“Skipping the calling out his name part are we? Just gonna go straight to violence?”
“I’d rather not wake up those two just yet Sammy. Want to try and keep relatively quiet.”
“And so we should hope he doesn’t yell out when you casually punch him in the face?”
“I said relatively didn’t I? And anyway look at him. I doubt I could hurt him when he is that big.”
“Oh Kura you couldn’t hurt me if I was your size anyway.” Kitsune responded, sleepily.
“AHHH!”
“HOLY CRAP! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Kura clutched her chest. “How long have you been awake?”
“Just now.” He lifted his head up.
“What can I do for you two this morning?” He frowned, noticing where they were.
“And how did you get here?”
“Long story short we discovered something weird in the living room, walked into it, Sammy’s idea, and just sort of found ourselves here.”
“Ah yes that would have been the portal I made to ge-…oh. Yeah well uhhh you two shouldn’t be here.”
“Why?”
“Because Sammy does this look like your house?”
“We don’t have a house.”
“You live with me now. Or don’t you remember where you slept last night?”
“No see we are animals right. And normally animals don’t have those sorts of rights. So you said does this look like your house, well that statement is a bit redundant seeing as, as animals, we cannot own a house. Even living there as we now do in the eyes of the law it is not our house.”
“…”
Sammy couldn’t help but grin at Kitsune’s lack of response. “Too early to annoy you?”
“I’m going to ignore you.” Kitsune turned to Kura.
“How did you get all the way up here?”
“Climbed.”
“You climbed!? How did you manage that?”
“Not sure really. My entire body feels like it is about to die. But anyway small question, who are those two?” Kura waved her arm towards the two (somehow) still sleeping figures. “I’m still getting used to seeing a, now huge, nine tailed fox and now a dragon and a…griffin show up too.”
Kitsune folded his arms.
“Well technically you two were not supposed to see them yet.”
“Then why leave an easy way to get here right in front of our very curious noses?”
“Because it wasn’t supposed to take this long! We found we had more to talk about and then…we got …drunk…and then we fell asleep. I wasn’t planning on being so long otherwise I would have just gone here the normal way.”
“Wait wait wait.” Sammy interrupted. “You got drunk? On what? These cans say…orange soda…what the heck is soda? Fizzy orange or something?”
“Yeah sure why not.”
“How did you get drunk on fizzy orange? Aren’t you supposed to be some sort of immortal demi god or something?”
“Hey!” Kitsune said, defensively.
“In this dimension orange soda is highly alcoholic to individuals with more bestial forms.”
“What forms?” Kura asked.
“Animal, Kura. It means animal.” Sammy turned back to Kitsune. “So animals get drunk on fizzy orange in this place then?”
“Yes.”
“And they are legally allowed to get drunk?”
“Yes.”
“Despite their age?”
“Yes.”
“We really are in a whole legal system of our own aren’t we?”
“Yes.”
Sammy frowned. “Can I ask you a favour?”
“Yes.”
“You said you grabbed some of our stuff. Can you hurry with the letting us have it part? I mean there is just something we will be needing soon and well…it is kind of necessary.”
“Yes.”
“Can you upgrade my glasses?”
“No.”
“Oh for the love of-”
Sigh “You just couldn’t keep saying yes could you?”
“Well I sort of had a feeling you would aim for a favor like that. So I just answered in a way that would make you do it.”
“Why would you do something like that? Intentionally try to make someone disappointed.”
“Yeah I agree with Sammy, Kitsune. That was pretty low.”
“Can I do anything to make you two happy? Seriously I try to act like you and you throw it in my face. Do you want me to withdraw my yes for going through your saved stuff?”
“Don’t try to act like us.” Sammy said. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“Yeah.” Kura agreed. “Don’t sink to our level. You’re better than that.”
Kitsune eyed them suspiciously.
“Are you trying to butter me up?”
“It would be safe to assume so. If I am right then what Sammy is talking about will be extremely necessary in acquiring us a new friend. You do realise how monumental it is for him to bother talking to someone right? He finds it difficult to start talking and that is if he even gets past the ‘wants to bother’ stage.”
“So you are saying that my allowing this to occur will be like a once in a lifetime opportunity?”
“Yup.”
“Hey!”
“Shut it Sammy.”
“Oh alright fine. I’ll get it all started. Just don’t expect any freebies We all need to keep that house maintained. But first…who wants to meet a dragon and a griffin?”
“ME!”
“YES!”
“I thought so.” Kitsune chuckled.
Streets
It may have been extremely early in the morning but that didn’t stop Sasha from skipping along, happily whistling a tune which, if one listened carefully enough to, seemed to change into a variety of different tunes as she went. She was, after all, on a very important mission. She had spent ages making invitation cards for the party (which was to take place tomorrow) and they all had to be posted. And since every pet had the chance of attending then there needed to be one invitation per household with pets. And since this was Babylon gardens the number of houses needing to be posted at was extremely high. It was seen as strange to not own a pet here after all. She knew that technically only actual club members should be getting the invitations but she had thought how unfair it would be on everyone else…that and she couldn’t remember where everyone lived. So she continued her rounds as merry as she ever was. She was well aware that Bino would more than likely react in a bad way to so many random pets turning up but she was confident she could use her charm to calm him down. After all it wasn’t going to be HIS special day. With that thought in mind Sasha picked up the pace. She still had a few more things to sort out before everything was ready.
“
Well now they are both finally wide awake and ready let the introductions begin.” Kitsune pointed towards the two entities.
“This is Dragon and this is Pete. Pete and Dragon this is Kura and Sammy.”
“Good morning.”
“Sup mortals?”
Kura and Sammy exchanged glances before shrugging. One hello and one nod (with a smile) were their respective responses. Albeit extremely nervous ones.
“Pete and Dragon these are the two mortals that I am now looking after.”
“Ah so it is these ones our game is put on hold for.”
“No Pete it is their entire planet that this game is put on hold for.”
“No actually Kitsune from my knowledge that is not their planet. If I am correct.”
“Well it is now so shush with your minor details.”
“Well then lets just ask them shall we?” Pete said with a smirk.
“Do you two mortals accept the loss of your original lives simply to come here to help Kitsune postpone a game which previously was of no concern to you at all?”
Kura opened her mouth to respond but Sammy held his paw against her mouth. With a frown on his face he took a step towards the huge Griffin. “I can already tell what you are doing. You are trying to undermine Kitsune. By questioning his decision and heading straight for us, banking on an answer which will make undermine his decisions. From this alone I can tell that in the perspective of the game he is superior to you and you must therefore abide by his rule. You are merely a player in a game in which he has dominance over. Your efforts are feeble. You attempt to get us to forget that he potentially saved our lives and has done other wonderful things for us, including manage to put up with us. I will warn you now that your petty attempts are a waste of time. You WILL not in anyway find any sort of purchase against Kitsune’s methods via us. Massive Griffin or not I believe you need to re-think how you go about your petty little squabbling.”
There was a lengthy silence from all four of the others. Broken by Pete’s short response.
“I doubt we will be friends.”
Dragon burst out laughing.
“HAHAHA! Oh Pete! You were slapped down by a mortal.” She leaned closer to Sammy.
“I like you kid. Not many people can stand up to Pete like that even if he is a jerk.”
“HEY!”
Dragon ignored Pete and continued.
“I admire your spirit. What would you two say to being my friend then?”
“Just like that?” Sammy asked.
“Just like that.”
Kura grinned and nodded at Sammy. “Well I do like dragons…okay then.” Sammy agreed with a smile of his own.
“Excellent, in that case,” Dragon shrunk herself down until she was only slightly bigger than them and extended a hand to both of them.
“Let me give you a proper hello.”
Sammy grinned. “You do realise this is a dream come true right?”
Fox’s house
“How long Fox?”
“Why ask King? It isn’t as if you are in a rush. Or do you secretly want to make some new friends? Is Kingy really a softie under all that grumpyness hmm?”
“Tread carefully or you may lose something vital.”
Fox laughed. “Give it a couple of hours. Besides breakfast isn’t even ready yet.” He gave King a smirk. “Unless you want to walk allll the way there without food?”
“Fat chance. Food is top priority in any case. I’m worried about you. Cats aren’t your favorite things in the world. How do you feel about giving one a tour?”
“As long as she doesn’t try anything funny or he doesn’t seem too close to her then everything will be fine. I can deal with them on their own, some of them I even respect. Even with their general distrustful natures. And being friends is okay to a degree but I don’t like the idea a dog and a cat being too close. It’s just not right. So when we get there we will keep an eye on how they interact okay?”
King took a double take. “Hey there’s a thing. How do you know where they live anyway? Kits-
cough I mean their owner didn’t say.”
“Dad. I just asked him. Said I wanted to let them know this place is nice. Getting sent to the station isn’t exactly high on the list of good first impressions.”
“So he just told you? Potential wanted felons and he gave you their address?”
“They are just over half my size King. I’m pretty sure I can take them.”
“YOU? Mr nose-in-a-book? You could maybe bore them to death with some novel or something.”
Fox scoffed. “I’ll have you know I used to be quite the scrapper in my youth. And the every other week of beating up Bino keeps me in good shape. As well as jogging, and any other assortment of exercises including but not limited to playing ball and frisbee. “
“You sound like a salesperson. And what about me? I’m half your size. Who will protect the poor defenceless, adorable Corgi from the wanted felons while you show off your pummelling skills?”
“Dad and I have already agreed and come to terms with a potential and thoroughly acceptable loss.” Fox sniffed the air. “Ooh breakfast is done.”
“Nice one Fox you-…Fox? Fox you were joking right? FOX!”
After the other two had shrunk down and Dragon had given a proper greeting, Pete whispered something into Kitsune’s ear.
“Woah woah woah back up!” Kura pointed to Pete. “What did you ask Kitsune just then?”
“Oh I’m sure you aren’t interested.”
“ No no no. I’m not having any secrets. If we are in this then we are in this together. Spill it mister.”
“Oh you know seeing as this whoooooole endeavour is riding on you and your…wonderful…brother’s abilities to take care of yourself…well I was just asking Kitsune if he had thought about starting your spirit training. But I’m sure you aren’t interested in that.” ‘Wait for it.’
“Now hold on there.”
‘Got you.’
“He mentioned training but what is spirit training?” Kura frowned. “Doesn’t sound normal.”
Pete felt like he could jump for joy. Their eagerness could make the games reactivation occur even sooner than he dared hope.
“Well aside from the regular training to boost your mental and physical capabilities we had planned to train your spirits. However spirit training is only for those who wish to dabble with matters of the,” He clicked his talons and a flame appeared.
“more magical side.” He put out the flame.
“But of course I doubt you would want that. Too boring isn’t it?”
“Now let’s not be hasty about this.” Sammy turned to Kitsune. “Birdy says you had planned to let us use magic.”
“Well I already told you I wanted to but I can’t just do that. I need to get the council’s approval. And that only happens after they inspect you and test you to see if you are worthy.”
“Worthy?” Kura asked.
Dragon smiled warmly.
“The council has to trust you. If they let anyone use that sort of power then…well we could very well have a disaster on our hands.”
Sammy frowned. “So what about normal training? What does that entail?”
“Ahh well that is standard celestial stuff actually. What happens is we take you to the training rooms. Each room looks small but inside is a massive training area. Some of them are your basic gym style places while others, and this is really exciting, are actually scenarios. You can set a specific challenge or do something familiar and try to get out on top. Ever wanted to recreate a video game?”
Sammy felt like he was going to explode from excitement. “YES!” He nodded eagerly.
“Then you can. Re-live your favorite gaming moments in person. Virtual reality without the virtual part. It IS real!”
Sammy collapsed onto the table. “I love this place.” He sniffed. “Can we please do this Kitsune? Please?”
“Well not the spirit stuff. Not yet anyway. But the rest…I was going to let you do anyway. It has to happen even if you didn’t want it to.” Before Kitsune could even blink Sammy tackled him.
“Oof!” He grunted as he fell backwards.
“THANK YOU THANK YOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! And umm thank you for…for bringing us here. This…this…I…thanks.”
Kitsune looked questioningly at Kura. She met his gaze with her own surprised one. She smiled and shrugged, walking over and joining in the hug. “Does this mean we truly have a home now?”
“Do you two want to live in that world with me?”
“Sammy is happy. I am happy. Which makes this a first in a long while for us both. You can never replace the things you lose…but you can live happily with the things you gain.”
“Oddly deep for a kid. Does that mean you wont be pains anymore?”
“I wouldn’t count on that.” Sammy answered.
“Too much to hope for?”
“Too much to hope for.”
Pete and dragon watched the embrace. She with a smile and he with a raised eyebrow.
Turning to face Pete she mimicked his expression.
“So what are you planning?”
“I would think that was obvious Dragon. Kids do the training, kids sort out world, game starts back up, I triumph over you and gloat for the next hundred trillion years or so.”
“How far will you go to get this game back on?”
Pete chuckled.
“Oh lets just say far enough.”
“You wont do anything rash will you?”
Before Pete could answer, Kitsune called over.
“Hey Dragon! You hit it off well with these two, want to join in the hug?”
“What? Uh sure I guess. I mean if that is okay with those two.”
“Kura doesn’t care and Sammy loves dragons. I think that means your okay.”
“Then why not!” Dragon smiled and joined in.
“This is the first time I’ve ever hugged a dragon.” Sammy remarked.
“As good as you hoped?”
“Nothing could spoil this moment.”
“Do I get a hug?” Pete asked, jokingly.
“Don’t touch me.” Sammy replied, coldly.
Kitsune and Dragon burst out laughing.
“Oh Pete you just got slapped down by a mortal AGAIN.”
“I DIDN’T ACTUALLY WANT A HUG ANYWAY!”
“Doesn’t matter, you still got slapped down!”
Pete clenched his fists and took off. The laughter increased until finally dying down a few minutes later.
“Should we be worried that he is angry?” Kura asked.
“Oh no. No no no. He can’t hurt you while we are around.”
“And if you aren’t?”
“Well that is what your training is for. Us entities, well our powers have limits. Mortals…well yours can grown and grow. If you were immortal you could eventually beat us in a fight. But you aren’t so you will at least be able to hold your own for a while. And that is physically. He can’t hurt you magically.”
“You’ve never properly explained that. Why?”
“Want to see?”
Kura shrugged. “Well sure I guess.”
“Kitsune are you sure about this?” Dragon asked, frowning.
“Positive.” He waved his hands turning the scenery to one of a field.
“Because I felt like it.” Was his response to Sammy’s raised eyebrow. He beckoned Sammy and Kura to stand a good few metres away from him. Once in position he called out to them.
“Now whatever you do, don’t get scared. You are perfectly safe!” They both nodded and he raised his paws, palm outwards. One paw pointed towards each of them.
“Are you ready?” Kitsune called out. They nodded again.
“This will be a stupid way to die.” Sammy called out.
“You won’t die. You won’t even be hurt.” Kitsune replied as his paws started to glow. Within seconds two crackling orbs of energy were nestled against each palm. In the blink of an eye, Kitsune drew both arms back then threw them forwards. The balls of energy came spinning towards the pair. Kura and Sammy’s eyes widened with fear. They had no time to react as the balls slammed into them, creating an explosion of energy that sent shockwaves out in all directions.
“KITSUNE!” Dragon shouted.
“Just watch.” He replied. His gaze focused on the dust.
When it had cleared the pair were both sprawled onto the ground, a number of metres away from the spot turned crater they originally started at, with their eyes firmly shut.
“Oops!” Kitsune exclaimed as he and dragon rushed over. He and Dragon knelt down next to Kura and Sammy respectively.
“Hey! Are you okay?” He asked, lifting her into a sitting position. His reward was a slap round his face.
“YOU SAID THAT WOULDN’T HURT!” She yelled, opening her eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t expect you to…well get thrown backwards. Actually out of interest did the blast hurt at all or was it just the being thrown onto the ground part?”
“Both.” Sammy replied, narrowing his eyes at Kitsune.
Kitsune noticed Sammy’s expression and hastily apologized again.
“Okay okay I’m sorry. I didn’t account for the force of the energy release. BUT I may state that part of my point was shown. I hit you with fire energy and you were not burned. I can set you on fire! Zap you with lightning! Fre-”
“Okay Kitsune that is enough!” Dragon interrupted.
“Right yes sorry. I was just illustrating my point. I did my research, Dragon and Pete spent quite a lot of time searching the great library too, and I ran some test samples. Don’t ask me how, you wont like it. But from this practical my new theory has been proved. See instead of causing the intended effect, lets say hitting you with fire, the release of magic to you causes only the raw base energy to hit you. That is what sent you flying. The raw energy is enough to throw you but the intended effect didn’t work at all! It had absolutely no effect!”
Kura coughed.
“Ah yes again sorry. Almost no affect. I still can’t figure out why though. Oooh maybe different types will yield different results.”
“YOU ARE NOT GETTING DIFFERENT RESULTS FROM THEM!” Dragon, shouted.
"Don’t push them Kitsune they aren’t ready. They haven’t had spirit defense training so they aren’t safe if there IS something that can affect them.”
“Well surely nothing can! You’ve sensed their spirits! They already had a natural defense but this test showed there is something else in play. ”
“Yes but that doesn’t alter the fact that you have used your power on them before.”
“WITHOUT intent to harm, and a more crucial factor is that they agreed to it. My hypothesis is that this natural shielding may be directly influenced by what they want to occur.”
“Surely though they can be tricked?”
“Not easily for you see that still falls und-”
Kura sighed. She got up and walked another few metres away from Kitsune. Getting Sammy’s attention she inclined her head towards her location. He too stood up and padded over to meet her.
“Yush?” He asked.
“Do you think they even realise we are here at the moment?”
Sammy squinted towards the arguing pair. “Nope.”
“Didn’t think so.”
“Christ the way they argue you would think they were married.”
“Don’t think so Sammy. I’m not sure how it works in their world but considering that they play…whatever their version of Dungeons and Dragons is and from what we learnt at Tarot’s house…I would say that they are probably around our age.”
“Well not exactly since they are probably millions of years old or something. But if we are talking in life cycle terms than that is a different matter.”
“If they have a life cycle. Maybe they don’t age properly but still have maturity?”
“Maturity? Yeah in that case then they are definitely teenagers!”
“Hey Sammy, do you want to shut them up or shall I?”
“I’m ruder.”
“The floor is yours dear brother.” Kura took a mock bow and stood back. “However it doesn’t look as though they will be able to hear you. Doubt they would even see you.”
“Hmm I wonder.” Sammy walked over to the crater, knelt down and started sifting through the debris.
“’cha doing?”
“Seeing and hearing eh…do you think feeling will work?”
“Well I’d give it a go at least.”
“Right watch this.” Sammy withdrew his arm, stood up and too aim. He drew his arm back then flung it forwards. He had gathered a small piece of dirt and moulded it together. Not guaranteed to cause any harm but it was a sure-fire way to grab someone’s attention. Which it did. Dragon burst out into laughter as the mud ball hit Kitsune’s cheek.
“THAT ISN’T FUNNY!” He yelled to Dragon who paid him no heed.
“You do realize many of my kind would just kill you there and then for such an act?”
“You hit me with your magic ball of whatever, I caused you minor shame. Eye for an eye. And anyway don’t talk about us as if we aren’t even here. Do you even realise how incredibly rude that is?”
“Well it is hard to have a discussion about anything when you two are involved. If you aren’t interested or even downright rude about the topic then you extend the rudeness to the other person or find a way to insult something else.”
“My friendliness, co-operation and general manners extend only to those who I deem to deserve it.”
“YOU WERE HUGGING ME NOT FIVE MINUTES AGO!”
“However,” Kura interjected. “you did throw a ball of energy at us. And being flung against the ground hurts.”
“So I accidentally messed up a moment where I was in your good books.”
“Yup!”
“Yesh.”
Kitsune facepalmed.
“Aiyiyi. Okay so what do I need to do to make it up to you this time?”
Sammy turned to Kura and inclined his head towards Kitsune. She put on a thoughtful expression before nodding with a smile. “Fox and King were gonna say hi soon right?” Sammy asked.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“They shall arrive at the house in exactly two hours.”
“You go home, make us breakfast. I want the British stereotype please. A proper full English breakfast for the first time ever. But before we eat we want some time in that training room if you please. That will be fun. And lastly…and this is a personal favour.” Sammy turned to Dragon and dropped onto his knees. “Please please PLEASE can I have a ride on your back? Even for a minute? It is one of my lifelong fantasies.” He begged her.
“I can’t take you to the main one. You need a card for that. But I can take you to the smaller one. No game or whatever simulations there I am afraid. It just contains training materials. However I should mention that time is a bit iffy there. You spend half a day in there and only an hour or so will pass out here.”
“So what will we do for food?” Kura asked.
“There is a food dispenser there. Nothing worthwhile though, just to stop starvation and maximise energy levels. You two do that and I will come get you in an hour. Deal?”
“Sure thing.” Kura agreed.
Dragon smiled down at Sammy after a moments thought.
“Sure you can have a ride. Your sister can come too. I wouldn’t normally do this but I like you both.”
“OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” Sammy cried out. “How can I ever repay you?”
“Do your best in your training and help save the world. That is all I can ask. I am the one indebted to you two.”
“Okay so Dragon will notify me when your ride has finished and you enter the training room. Then I’ll get you in an hour. We’ll have breakfast but then I still want to discuss that thing I mentioned yesterday that you wont like.”
“Okay.”
“Yep.”
“All right then. Have fun guys!”
From afar
‘Kitsune should contain his eagerness. He is so sure of the strength of their spirits that he risked seriously harming them. If I hadn’t of intervened just then…given Kitsune’s power that could very well have been the end for them. And even then I was not aware until too late. I was not quick enough to completely nullify the blast. He doesn’t know who or what those children are. His little demonstration did nothing but make my job that much more difficult. When the time comes for us all to finally meet…I believe I may have to reprimand him a little. But I cannot act too soon or their fates will be sealed. For now I am content to let events play out until it is time. However if I have to intervene to save their lives from blundering stupidity once again then I may have to risk it. I pray I shall not have to.’