Housepets!: A Song of Tails and Power (by Denabella)

[Denabella]

The sun peeked through the window as the smell warfed through the room, signaling breakfast. But at the moment, that wasn't enough to wake the young kitsune from her warm bed and pleasant dreams. What was enough was the cold water balloon that splashed on her a few moments later, soaking her.

"Rise and shine, Aria. It's morning, and I fixed your favorite." Her father said, with an obvious smile in his voice. There was no doubt he was the one who had dropped the water balloon. As he walked out of the room, Aria snapped her fingers to dry her bed and her own cream white and burnt orange fur. A glance to her mirror made her laugh. Of course she hadn't accounted for the fur deciding to poof out all over the place. Shaking her head, she grabbed her fur brush, untangling the matted fur on her one tail. One. Her dad said that it would take training for the second one to appear, but oh, no. She wasn't ready. She couldn't even master a simple summoning spell for a comb.

"Aria, do I need to come up with another water balloon? I'm not afraid to put dye in it!" Her father's voice called from down stairs.

"I'm up. I'm just getting ready." She called back down to him. A few minutes passed before she came downstairs to the breakfast. Aria went to sit down, but saw her father grabbed another fur brush.

"Hold still." He said, chuckling as he ran it through her back fur. "For some reason, you always forget the back. Do I need to get you a brush extender?" He asked.

"You mean invent one. Because I'm sure they don't exist." She replied, finally sitting down to the breakfast. "Pete and Dragon not joining us?" She asked, her fox ears twitching to hear if they were coming down the stairs.

"No. They're down on earth, remember? Their last big bet? I know you miss them, but they'll be back up here before you know. Time is subjective here, just not down there." He said, placing the plate in front of her as he ruffled her hair. Aria sighed as she ate the pancakes and bacon.

"I know. It's just..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
"It's just you have a crush on Pete, isn't it?" Kitsune teased as Aria rolled her eyes. Of course he would know. Yes, she had a crush on the gryphon. But heavens forbid that he ever found out about it. Then again... They were omniscient after all. There was no doubt, he probably already knew.

"Someone's blushing..." Her father's voice broke through her thoughts with a chuckle. "I guess that blue gryphon never leaves your mind, huh?"

"Dad..." She whined a bit, using her one tail to hide behind. Seeing the one tail again, she sighed. "When am I going to start my training? I want to earn my tails. I wanna be like you. Join your games."

"In due time, Aria my young, impatient cub. You can't join the game until you get her third tail. Universes and Unrealities requires you know how to communicate with the worlds outside of heaven. And you don't yet. That ability won't come until you have your second tail-"

"Which won't happen if you never train me. I know I'm your little girl, but come on! I want to learn. I want to explore. I don't want to be stuck in this little bubble of heaven for all of eternity. I want to know what more is out there. And I can't do that with just one tail!"
Her father's eyes showed a little fire as Aria had stood up to face him. She knew that was never good, but she was not backing down this time. She wanted the training. Her father closed his eyes, clearing the breakfast plates off the table before sitting down in front of her.

"Sit down." He said simply, a calm in his voice that was usually there when Pete or Dragon had annoyed him to the point of snapping.

"Dad?" She asked softly.

"I said, sit down." He replied, Aria doing so. He took a few deep breaths before continuing. "The powers we hold are amazing, yes, but they come with a major drawback. Whenever a Kitsune obtains a second tail, they will gain great power, but with that power-"

"Comes great responsibility, I know" Aria finished "You've given this speech a million times!"

"No," said Kitsune "With that power comes those who would use it for nefarious purposes. They might even kill you to get it, and I certainly don't want that."

"But I can handle myself!" Aria announced.

"Oh, you think so? Alright. I'm going to make you a deal. You show me you are ready. I know you've been practicing in secret. Don't bother trying to hide that from me. But if you can show me here and now that you are ready, I will start your training. If not, you have the breakfast dishes. Am I clear, Aria?" The way he explained was cool and collected, a tone she had only heard him use with his players. Aria soon nodded her agreement to the deal, her father's face showing a small smirk.

"Alright. Let's do something small. See those dishes over there. I want you to try to clean them with magic." He said, Aria raising her eyebrow at him. "What? I'm serious. You want me to train you? First lesson is to follow what I say exactly. Now clean the dishes... please." He added on.

Aria sighed, snapping her fingers. In a few seconds, the dishes were clean and ready to be put away. She then turned to her father. "Alright, what's next on this small test?"

"Nothing." He said with a smirk.

"That was it?" She asked.

"Yep... Oh you thought I was testing you for the training right now? I just wanted you to do the dishes. But I was serious about everything I said before. You start on this path, there's no turning around. I want you to remain a cub as long as possible, to protect you from those who wish to harm us. But I know you. You're like me. You have my spunk, my determination if I must borrow from one of your favorite games. But I need to know if you are sure you want to do this. I will not be going easy on you. You will be learning a lot more than you think. It's not all 'snapping your fingers and something happens...' at least not all the time" Kitsune explained. "I needed you to know what you are getting into."

[Amazee Dayzee]

Not really bad! You are a really talented writer!

[D-Rock]

This is an interesting take. Should be interesting going forward.

[Nathan Kerbonaut]

This is excellent! I like the characters you've established, and this is written very well. You have my following

[NHWestoN]

Okay, here's a different take. Well paced, too. Very interested to see where you take this....

[trekkie]

It is very nicely written, I’m looking forward to reading more.