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It was a hot and arid day in Egypt, the sun mercilessly beating down on all who ventured outside. Choco was barely withstanding the heat due her golden bikini-armor exposing the majority of her black and orange furred body to the merciful breeze. The Squee was cursing her cream neck ruff and fluffy, tri-colored tail. They kept absorbing the heat of the sun, and even the breeze couldn’t cool them off. Running her cream-colored fingers through her long, brown hair with a green streak, Choco tried using her insect like wings to create a stronger flow of air around her to cool her off. She squinted her lime-colored eyes in the harsh sunlight, which caused the markings on her face to become distorted.
She didn’t understand why she agreed to this trip. It was Arabella who wanted to visit Egypt. She wished to see authentic belly dancing in person and begged the others for a trip. Fae, who had previously visited Egypt, decided to accompany Arabella. Rao, for some strange reason, begged to tag along to Egypt. Choco would have been perfectly fine alone, but Fae managed to drag her into this trip.
Choco was certain that they must be a strange sight. The white bodied Fae with her sparkly blue fur, knee length dark blue hair, piercing blue and yellow eyes, golden wings and crown all wrapped up in a sundress. The pink and white furred Rao with her five white-tipped, brown tails with a strange crescent and diamond pattern, wore a crop top over a fishnet shirt, shorts, and a black leather collar with a golden bell. Arabella was probably the most normal out of the four of them, with an uneven brown and cream fur coat, grey eyes, and brown hair. Bella wore a purple dress, missing an undershirt, due to the intense heat.
The four of them were walking the streets together, when Rao suddenly stopped. Her ears perked up, turning as if she heard something important. The kitsune, without explanation, bolted towards a seemingly random direction. “Rao! Where are you going?” Fae called out, but Rao didn’t seem to hear her. Fae turned to the Squee. “Choco, could you please go catch her. We’ll meet up with you two back at the hotel.”
“On it.” Choco replied, quickly chasing after Rao. The Squee followed Rao as the kitsune seemed to randomly turn corners in a frantic search for something. Choco had trouble keeping up due to the narrow and crowded streets. Of course, Rao stood out like a sore thumb with her five tails, so Choco never lost sight of her for long. The longer the chase went on, the more furious Choco became.
After a long chase, Rao suddenly stopped. She seemed to be listening for something to determine which direction to go in next. This gave Choco enough time to catch up and grab a hold of Rao. “Rao! What on earth were you thinking? Running off like that!” Choco could barely contain her frustration with Rao.
Rao’s magenta eyes were filled with a desperate desire to find something. Responding as if she was only half listening to Choco, the kitsune said “Its fine. I’ll make my way back to you guys later.”
Choco had never seen such a desperate look on Rao. Like this was something she NEEDED to do. It didn’t matter to the Squee; she was going to bring Rao back. “No. WE’RE heading back NOW!” Choco said in a trembling voice, barely covering up her anger. She started to pull Rao’s arm to take her back by force. That’s when Rao shapeshifted to get out of Choco’s grip, causing the Squee to fall flat on her rear. Looking up, she saw three Rao’s all heading off in different directions. The crafty kitsune used her illusions to cover her escape. Absolutely done with Rao, Choco just gave up chasing her.
Trying to head back to the hotel, Choco realized she was too focused on following Rao to remember which way she came. “Stupid Rao! What makes her think she can just do stuff like this?” Fuming, she did her best to retrace her steps. “Does she think her powers can just let her get lost in a foreign country without consequences?” Choco hated how often Rao would do something spontaneous like running off without even considering what could happen to not only her, but the people with her. That carefree attitude really got to the Squee. “I swear, if this is another one of her pranks!” She let that thought hang as she tried to decide which way to go next.
The blistering sun was getting lower in the sky, it would soon be night and Choco was still lost. At this point, she started to ask around for directions. That is when the first major problem occurred, a language barrier. Fae acted as the translator of the group, since she learnt the language during her travels. Most of the people she met didn’t speak English, so those conversations went nowhere. The second major problem was that the hotel was rather new. So even when she met someone who did speak English, they didn’t know where it was and couldn’t help her.
Just before the sun began to set, the furious Squee just blurted out. “I am going to kill Rao when I see her again. I try to stop her from getting lost and being alone. Now I end up lost and alone when she just blows me off.” Her wings buzzed angerly behind her.
Choco was about to take flight to try to get her bearings when she heard an unknown female voice come from behind her, “Excuse me.” Choco turned around to see a very strange figure behind her. On first glance, it appeared to be a black and grey furred, 5-tailed kitsune. She was wearing a gold and blue collar that held two pieces of cloth over her chest and a loin cloth with a dark blue pattern on it, the combination left very little to the imagination. She had a lot of curved yellow-orange markings along her black fur. Her tails were mostly black and covered in yellow-orange dots, with a yellow-orange and black trim between the grey tips. That’s when noticed some non-kitsune features, like the long, grey whiskers that were very similar to Lyra’s. Two yellow-orange horns adorned her spiky furred head. Lastly, Choco noticed that the black fur stopped at the elbows, past that it became black scales.
The stranger took one step forward on their grey furred foot. “Pardon my interruption. I couldn’t help but overhear you. Do you need some help?” Her amber eyes had reflected her concerned tone, but also had a hint of something else hidden in them.
Choco didn’t let that hidden something in the stranger’s eye go by unnoticed, so she was a little hesitant to accept help. Although she was also pretty desperate at this point. “Yes. I need to get back to my friends at the hotel we are staying at.”
“I might be able to help with that. Tell me what’s the name of the hotel?” the unknown person responded. Choco offered up the name of the hotel. “Ah, the new place. I know where that is. I happened to be heading in that direction myself, I can walk you to it.”
Choco was grateful to finally have some help. “Thank you. I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Choco.” The Squee offered her hand to the stranger to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Choco.” The stranger grabbed the offered hand with her own scaley hand. “My name is Cleo.”
Choco followed Cleo as she seemed to navigate the streets like she knew them like the back of her hand. Cleo then spoke up, “I apologize for asking this, but what are you exactly? You have a lot of squirrel properties, but also some insect properties. If you don’t wish to answer, I fully understand. I’ve been asked that question more times than I can remember, since my parents were a kitsune and a dragon.”
Choco hadn’t asked that question yet since she felt Cleo might have been annoyed by it. Since Cleo went first, Choco really had no other option but respond in kind. “I’m a Squee. A species with squirrel and bee properties.” Twitching her antennae and wings to emphasize her point.
“I see, interesting.” Cleo continued to lead Choco for a short while until she spoke up again. “We are a fair distance away from where you should be. How exactly did you get lost again?”
“Well, I am here with three others. One of them, a kitsune called Rao, just suddenly took off for no reason.” Choco’s rage at Rao had cooled down slightly, but not enough to prevent her from going on a rant. “Even when I caught up to her, she just blew me off and used her illusions to stop me from following her. She usually acts without thinking, but this is too far. She doesn’t know this country or anyone in it. She never considers the risks to herself; she always has her powers to let her escape scot-free!” Choco was clenching her fists at this point. “She doesn’t even seem to consider the risk to her friends! She just left me alone and lost! If she just came back with me, we might be lost, but at least we would be together to help each other! I just!” She left that sentence hang in the air as her anger was replaced by her fears. Her memories of the Squee community she lost due to a natural disaster flashed into her mind. “I just don’t want to lose anyone. Not again.”
Cleo placed her hand on Choco’s shoulder. The Squee looked at Cleo, noticing her face gave of a sympathetic look, as if she knew exactly what she was talking about. “This Rao sounds like a real handful. She should really be more considerate of her friends’ feelings.” The tone of voice went past some stranger trying to sympathize.
“I just hope she turns up safe and sound.” Choco sighed. “After that, then I’ll tear her a new one.”
Cleo then mumbled something, Choco could have sworn that she heard her say “And Moon Tail would deserve it.” Before Choco could ask Cleo to repeat that, she heard a familiar voice shout “Mitsuketa!” from behind. Both Cleo and Choco turned around to see Rao at the end of the street. Her hair was disheveled, and she was breathing heavily, as if she ran around the entire city. Her five tails were all wagging in union.
Choco was too filled with a mixture of relief and anger that she didn’t realize Rao shouted at them in her native tongue. Choco was about to walk up to Rao when a scale covered hand blocked her. Choco looked to see slight smile on Cleo’s face before she said “Hisashiburi.” Looking back at Rao, the kitsune had started running towards them. After gathering enough speed, Rao then jumped towards the dragon-kitsune, arms open wide, while shouting “CLEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO!” As Rao flew closer to them, Choco noticed tears at the edges of Rao’s joy filled eyes.
Cleo stepped out of the flying vixen’s trajectory, leaving a rough landing as the end result. Almost hidden by the thud, Rao’s bell collar could be heard ringing. Before Rao could get up, Cleo sat on top of her pinning her Rao’s arms with her feet. “It has been a while, hasn’t it, Rao?” Cleo then grabbed one of Rao’s ears and started pulling. As Rao started yelping and flailing in pain, Cleo spoke up again. “As much of a nuisance as ever. And here I thought when I left you 400 years ago you had finally grown up. But it looks like you’re back to your old self.”
Choco was absolutely dumbstruck by the scene playing out before her. Although she couldn’t help but feel a little happy, seeing Rao get her just deserts. Of course, a question still hung in the Squee’s mind. “Wait, you two know each other?”
“Oh yeah.” Cleo answered, still bullying Rao. “We grew up together and were best friends. I moved to Egypt when we were about 210 years old. Now, how to deal with you, Rao.” Choco watched as Cleo took off Rao’s collar and tossed it to her. “You hold onto that for a bit.” Rao’s collar, the one thing Rao cherished above almost all else to the point she rarely took it off, was now in her hands. Her first time touching it, she realized how worn it felt in her hands, yet it looked good as new.
Rao continued to thrash on the ground. “Ow ow ow ow ow! No fair! Give it back!” Choco had never seen Rao like this. Whenever something might happen to her collar, she became dead serious. It was almost frightening sometimes with how malicious she would become in moments like that. “Cleo! You know how important that collar is to me!”
“Of course I do.” Cleo replied, some fire escaping her lips. “But you gave your friend a ton of trouble today, leading them on a wild goose chase and then leaving them lost. So, to get it back you’ll have to get their forgiveness.” Cleo then let go of Rao’s ears and got off her, offering a hand to help Rao up.
Rao accepted the hand, and after getting up and brushing herself off, the kitsune attempted to hug her assaulter. Cleo put up a hand and pointed at Choco. Understanding what she meant, Rao walked up to Choco. Before Rao could speak, Choco slapped the kitsune. “That is for running off without explanation and leaving me lost.”
“Yeah, I deserve that.” Rao said while rubbing her slapped face. Continuing, Rao began her apology. “I am sorry that I put you through all that.” Rao’s magenta eyes reflected the guilt she felt at the moment. “I wanted to go on this trip in hopes of finding Cleo again. When I thought I heard her, I became too fixated on finding her. I shouldn’t have just blown you off like that, especially without an explanation.”
Choco could tell that Rao was being genuine with her apology. Having seen Cleo punish Rao was enough for the Squee. Choco returned the collar to Rao. “And this is for coming back safe and sound.”
After Rao put her collar back on, she went back to hug Cleo, who this time returned the favor. Both had some tears in their eyes at this point, and Rao’s tails were waging so fast there was a slight breeze from them. “It has been far too long, Moon Tail.” Cleo began. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your kimono. And what are you doing in Egypt? You were never one for travel.”
Pulling back so she could look at childhood friend, Rao wiped away the tears before she responded. “A lot has changed, Horn Head. Too much to explain right now. All you need to know is that I’m moving forward again.” Rao then turned back to look at Choco. “And I have met some great friends along the way.”
Choco crossed her orange and black furred arms, “I feel like more of a babysitter than a friend when it comes to you.” Cleo held back a laugh at that comment. “But speaking of friends, we have two that are probably worried sick at this point. You should introduce Cleo to them.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Cleo said, placing her black hand on top of Rao’s sunset colored hair. “Choco wasn’t the only one you gave unnecessary trouble today.” Rao’s eyes were filled with fear. “I should make sure that you apologize to them properly.”
The three of them made it back to the hotel to meet up with Fae and Arabella. Rao profusely apologized to Fae and Arabella while Cleo held her head down in a bow. After being caught up to the events of the day, everyone had plenty of questions they wanted answered.
Arabella was the first one to ask. “What makes Cleo so special that she could take your collar off?”
Reflexively reaching for the golden bell, Rao explained. “Even though she left about 10 years after I got it, she saw how important this collar is to me.” Rao rang the bell before continuing. “While we aren’t family, we practically grew up together. We have complete trust in each other.”
Choco finally had the time to ask Cleo a question she had for a while now. “How did you get a hold of Rao like that? When I grabbed her, she shapeshifted to escape from me.”
“Ah, that’s easy.” Cleo said, “While Moon Tail is fairly adept at shapeshifting, she has her limits. There are parts of her that she has difficulty with. She can’t easily change her ears, especially when someone is pulling on them.” The dragon-kitsune took a drink of water after she was finished speaking.
Fae, who had been brushing sand and dust out of her long, blue fur, stopped to ask a question of her own. “So, what was Rao like as a kid? Same troublemaker as ever?”
Cleo chuckled a bit. “Oh yeah. She was always a prankster. Occasionally she would manage to convince me to join in on a prank or two. Her pranks were never malicious though.”
“I see.” Fae went. Putting down her brush, she elaborated on her question. “But what about bullies? Given how you handle Rao, were you the one who protected her, coming to her aid like a knight in shining armor?”
Cleo shook her head, her grey whiskers waving in response. “Oh no. We were the only ones allowed to mess with each other. Of course, there was this one time when we were about 30. A group of guys just kept harassing me, one even yanked my whiskers. I was going to retaliate, but Rao intervened before I could.”
Rao quickly interrupted Cleo with a quip, “They never did find the bodies.” A sinister smile was across the vixen’s face.
“Ignore her.” Cleo said in the middle of an annoyed sigh. “They weren’t even hurt that badly, just a bloody nose and some singed fur. But they did get to see Rao’s ugly side. Of course, they did come up with a name for you. What was it again?”
Rao had to really think for a few minutes before it came back to her. “Ah yes. I believe it was something along the lines of ‘Fire Moon Demon.’ I don’t think they realized how weak my Foxfire really was back then. There was no way I could have beaten them at that point, I could barely even create the fire.”
Arabella then asked another question. “So why did you move to Egypt?”
“Unlike Rao, I wanted to move elsewhere. Not just within the country, but to another country.” Cleo began. “I had family here, so I decided to move here.” Cleo’s face perked up as if she just remembered something. “Speaking of moving, I have been thinking of moving again. Although I haven’t had any idea where to move too.”
Everyone in the room knew exactly what was going to happen next. Rao eyes widened, and her tails waged slightly. “You can move close to us! Maybe even move in with us!” Looking to the companions she traveled to Egypt with. “She can, right?”
Choco, Fae, and Arabella looked at each other. Fae then spoke for the three of them, “Without Dial and Lyra, we can’t really say anything for certain. But we could at least help find a place she could move to.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the help.” Cleo said. Getting up, Cleo said “I think I should be heading home now. Rao, would you mind walking with me for a bit. I’d love to talk a bit more with you.”
Rao nodded her head and left with Cleo. The two walked the deserted streets, side by side taking about the things that the other had missed. Cleo then asked a question she didn’t want to ask in front of anyone else. “Did you tell them about your true magic affinity?”
Rao shook her head, the bell on her collar ringing with the movement. “No. They don’t know about it.” Her cheerful demeanor vanished. “I would rather keep it that way. It isn’t something I want them to know. I trust them, and maybe I’ll tell them the truth eventually. Its just, I am trying to move on from it.”
“Oh, Moon Tail.” Cleo gave Rao a comforting hug. “I know I asked you not to predict if we would meet each other again when I left, but I am glad you predicted that we would meet again on your trip here.”
“I didn’t predict my trip to Egypt, Horn Head. I made a promise to myself to not predict the future anymore.” The vixen said. “Of course, I may have broken that promise at least once. But for good reason.”
Cleo was taken aback. “Wait. So, you went on this trip with the HOPE that you would meet me, but you didn’t actually check to see if you would?” Cleo was impressed by the kind of restraint Rao had with that decision. The Rao she knew would have done that without a second thought, she would have really wanted to meet up again no matter what, forcing it if she had to. “I guess you really have changed.”
“Yup. Like I said, I am moving forward again. Doing my best to not know what will come next.” Rao said, holding her hands behind her head. “It was scary at first, but the longer it went on, the more people I met. And I became more comfortable with not knowing what will happen.”
“Really?” Cleo’s amber eyes had a warmth behind them. She happy that her childhood friend has, for the most part, finally been able to overcome her hatred and fear of her own power. “That is fantastic. I am so happy for you. I do hope your unplanned future has room for one more.”
A reminder, Choco and Arabella's intro stories were already done, so Cleo's was next in line. Hope you enjoyed the story.
Also, a reminder I have a journal open for Q&A for my characters.... I really want questions so I can expand them.
She didn’t understand why she agreed to this trip. It was Arabella who wanted to visit Egypt. She wished to see authentic belly dancing in person and begged the others for a trip. Fae, who had previously visited Egypt, decided to accompany Arabella. Rao, for some strange reason, begged to tag along to Egypt. Choco would have been perfectly fine alone, but Fae managed to drag her into this trip.
Choco was certain that they must be a strange sight. The white bodied Fae with her sparkly blue fur, knee length dark blue hair, piercing blue and yellow eyes, golden wings and crown all wrapped up in a sundress. The pink and white furred Rao with her five white-tipped, brown tails with a strange crescent and diamond pattern, wore a crop top over a fishnet shirt, shorts, and a black leather collar with a golden bell. Arabella was probably the most normal out of the four of them, with an uneven brown and cream fur coat, grey eyes, and brown hair. Bella wore a purple dress, missing an undershirt, due to the intense heat.
The four of them were walking the streets together, when Rao suddenly stopped. Her ears perked up, turning as if she heard something important. The kitsune, without explanation, bolted towards a seemingly random direction. “Rao! Where are you going?” Fae called out, but Rao didn’t seem to hear her. Fae turned to the Squee. “Choco, could you please go catch her. We’ll meet up with you two back at the hotel.”
“On it.” Choco replied, quickly chasing after Rao. The Squee followed Rao as the kitsune seemed to randomly turn corners in a frantic search for something. Choco had trouble keeping up due to the narrow and crowded streets. Of course, Rao stood out like a sore thumb with her five tails, so Choco never lost sight of her for long. The longer the chase went on, the more furious Choco became.
After a long chase, Rao suddenly stopped. She seemed to be listening for something to determine which direction to go in next. This gave Choco enough time to catch up and grab a hold of Rao. “Rao! What on earth were you thinking? Running off like that!” Choco could barely contain her frustration with Rao.
Rao’s magenta eyes were filled with a desperate desire to find something. Responding as if she was only half listening to Choco, the kitsune said “Its fine. I’ll make my way back to you guys later.”
Choco had never seen such a desperate look on Rao. Like this was something she NEEDED to do. It didn’t matter to the Squee; she was going to bring Rao back. “No. WE’RE heading back NOW!” Choco said in a trembling voice, barely covering up her anger. She started to pull Rao’s arm to take her back by force. That’s when Rao shapeshifted to get out of Choco’s grip, causing the Squee to fall flat on her rear. Looking up, she saw three Rao’s all heading off in different directions. The crafty kitsune used her illusions to cover her escape. Absolutely done with Rao, Choco just gave up chasing her.
_______________________________________________________________________________Trying to head back to the hotel, Choco realized she was too focused on following Rao to remember which way she came. “Stupid Rao! What makes her think she can just do stuff like this?” Fuming, she did her best to retrace her steps. “Does she think her powers can just let her get lost in a foreign country without consequences?” Choco hated how often Rao would do something spontaneous like running off without even considering what could happen to not only her, but the people with her. That carefree attitude really got to the Squee. “I swear, if this is another one of her pranks!” She let that thought hang as she tried to decide which way to go next.
The blistering sun was getting lower in the sky, it would soon be night and Choco was still lost. At this point, she started to ask around for directions. That is when the first major problem occurred, a language barrier. Fae acted as the translator of the group, since she learnt the language during her travels. Most of the people she met didn’t speak English, so those conversations went nowhere. The second major problem was that the hotel was rather new. So even when she met someone who did speak English, they didn’t know where it was and couldn’t help her.
Just before the sun began to set, the furious Squee just blurted out. “I am going to kill Rao when I see her again. I try to stop her from getting lost and being alone. Now I end up lost and alone when she just blows me off.” Her wings buzzed angerly behind her.
Choco was about to take flight to try to get her bearings when she heard an unknown female voice come from behind her, “Excuse me.” Choco turned around to see a very strange figure behind her. On first glance, it appeared to be a black and grey furred, 5-tailed kitsune. She was wearing a gold and blue collar that held two pieces of cloth over her chest and a loin cloth with a dark blue pattern on it, the combination left very little to the imagination. She had a lot of curved yellow-orange markings along her black fur. Her tails were mostly black and covered in yellow-orange dots, with a yellow-orange and black trim between the grey tips. That’s when noticed some non-kitsune features, like the long, grey whiskers that were very similar to Lyra’s. Two yellow-orange horns adorned her spiky furred head. Lastly, Choco noticed that the black fur stopped at the elbows, past that it became black scales.
The stranger took one step forward on their grey furred foot. “Pardon my interruption. I couldn’t help but overhear you. Do you need some help?” Her amber eyes had reflected her concerned tone, but also had a hint of something else hidden in them.
Choco didn’t let that hidden something in the stranger’s eye go by unnoticed, so she was a little hesitant to accept help. Although she was also pretty desperate at this point. “Yes. I need to get back to my friends at the hotel we are staying at.”
“I might be able to help with that. Tell me what’s the name of the hotel?” the unknown person responded. Choco offered up the name of the hotel. “Ah, the new place. I know where that is. I happened to be heading in that direction myself, I can walk you to it.”
Choco was grateful to finally have some help. “Thank you. I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Choco.” The Squee offered her hand to the stranger to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Choco.” The stranger grabbed the offered hand with her own scaley hand. “My name is Cleo.”
_______________________________________________________________________________Choco followed Cleo as she seemed to navigate the streets like she knew them like the back of her hand. Cleo then spoke up, “I apologize for asking this, but what are you exactly? You have a lot of squirrel properties, but also some insect properties. If you don’t wish to answer, I fully understand. I’ve been asked that question more times than I can remember, since my parents were a kitsune and a dragon.”
Choco hadn’t asked that question yet since she felt Cleo might have been annoyed by it. Since Cleo went first, Choco really had no other option but respond in kind. “I’m a Squee. A species with squirrel and bee properties.” Twitching her antennae and wings to emphasize her point.
“I see, interesting.” Cleo continued to lead Choco for a short while until she spoke up again. “We are a fair distance away from where you should be. How exactly did you get lost again?”
“Well, I am here with three others. One of them, a kitsune called Rao, just suddenly took off for no reason.” Choco’s rage at Rao had cooled down slightly, but not enough to prevent her from going on a rant. “Even when I caught up to her, she just blew me off and used her illusions to stop me from following her. She usually acts without thinking, but this is too far. She doesn’t know this country or anyone in it. She never considers the risks to herself; she always has her powers to let her escape scot-free!” Choco was clenching her fists at this point. “She doesn’t even seem to consider the risk to her friends! She just left me alone and lost! If she just came back with me, we might be lost, but at least we would be together to help each other! I just!” She left that sentence hang in the air as her anger was replaced by her fears. Her memories of the Squee community she lost due to a natural disaster flashed into her mind. “I just don’t want to lose anyone. Not again.”
Cleo placed her hand on Choco’s shoulder. The Squee looked at Cleo, noticing her face gave of a sympathetic look, as if she knew exactly what she was talking about. “This Rao sounds like a real handful. She should really be more considerate of her friends’ feelings.” The tone of voice went past some stranger trying to sympathize.
“I just hope she turns up safe and sound.” Choco sighed. “After that, then I’ll tear her a new one.”
Cleo then mumbled something, Choco could have sworn that she heard her say “And Moon Tail would deserve it.” Before Choco could ask Cleo to repeat that, she heard a familiar voice shout “Mitsuketa!” from behind. Both Cleo and Choco turned around to see Rao at the end of the street. Her hair was disheveled, and she was breathing heavily, as if she ran around the entire city. Her five tails were all wagging in union.
Choco was too filled with a mixture of relief and anger that she didn’t realize Rao shouted at them in her native tongue. Choco was about to walk up to Rao when a scale covered hand blocked her. Choco looked to see slight smile on Cleo’s face before she said “Hisashiburi.” Looking back at Rao, the kitsune had started running towards them. After gathering enough speed, Rao then jumped towards the dragon-kitsune, arms open wide, while shouting “CLEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO!” As Rao flew closer to them, Choco noticed tears at the edges of Rao’s joy filled eyes.
Cleo stepped out of the flying vixen’s trajectory, leaving a rough landing as the end result. Almost hidden by the thud, Rao’s bell collar could be heard ringing. Before Rao could get up, Cleo sat on top of her pinning her Rao’s arms with her feet. “It has been a while, hasn’t it, Rao?” Cleo then grabbed one of Rao’s ears and started pulling. As Rao started yelping and flailing in pain, Cleo spoke up again. “As much of a nuisance as ever. And here I thought when I left you 400 years ago you had finally grown up. But it looks like you’re back to your old self.”
Choco was absolutely dumbstruck by the scene playing out before her. Although she couldn’t help but feel a little happy, seeing Rao get her just deserts. Of course, a question still hung in the Squee’s mind. “Wait, you two know each other?”
“Oh yeah.” Cleo answered, still bullying Rao. “We grew up together and were best friends. I moved to Egypt when we were about 210 years old. Now, how to deal with you, Rao.” Choco watched as Cleo took off Rao’s collar and tossed it to her. “You hold onto that for a bit.” Rao’s collar, the one thing Rao cherished above almost all else to the point she rarely took it off, was now in her hands. Her first time touching it, she realized how worn it felt in her hands, yet it looked good as new.
Rao continued to thrash on the ground. “Ow ow ow ow ow! No fair! Give it back!” Choco had never seen Rao like this. Whenever something might happen to her collar, she became dead serious. It was almost frightening sometimes with how malicious she would become in moments like that. “Cleo! You know how important that collar is to me!”
“Of course I do.” Cleo replied, some fire escaping her lips. “But you gave your friend a ton of trouble today, leading them on a wild goose chase and then leaving them lost. So, to get it back you’ll have to get their forgiveness.” Cleo then let go of Rao’s ears and got off her, offering a hand to help Rao up.
Rao accepted the hand, and after getting up and brushing herself off, the kitsune attempted to hug her assaulter. Cleo put up a hand and pointed at Choco. Understanding what she meant, Rao walked up to Choco. Before Rao could speak, Choco slapped the kitsune. “That is for running off without explanation and leaving me lost.”
“Yeah, I deserve that.” Rao said while rubbing her slapped face. Continuing, Rao began her apology. “I am sorry that I put you through all that.” Rao’s magenta eyes reflected the guilt she felt at the moment. “I wanted to go on this trip in hopes of finding Cleo again. When I thought I heard her, I became too fixated on finding her. I shouldn’t have just blown you off like that, especially without an explanation.”
Choco could tell that Rao was being genuine with her apology. Having seen Cleo punish Rao was enough for the Squee. Choco returned the collar to Rao. “And this is for coming back safe and sound.”
After Rao put her collar back on, she went back to hug Cleo, who this time returned the favor. Both had some tears in their eyes at this point, and Rao’s tails were waging so fast there was a slight breeze from them. “It has been far too long, Moon Tail.” Cleo began. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your kimono. And what are you doing in Egypt? You were never one for travel.”
Pulling back so she could look at childhood friend, Rao wiped away the tears before she responded. “A lot has changed, Horn Head. Too much to explain right now. All you need to know is that I’m moving forward again.” Rao then turned back to look at Choco. “And I have met some great friends along the way.”
Choco crossed her orange and black furred arms, “I feel like more of a babysitter than a friend when it comes to you.” Cleo held back a laugh at that comment. “But speaking of friends, we have two that are probably worried sick at this point. You should introduce Cleo to them.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Cleo said, placing her black hand on top of Rao’s sunset colored hair. “Choco wasn’t the only one you gave unnecessary trouble today.” Rao’s eyes were filled with fear. “I should make sure that you apologize to them properly.”
_______________________________________________________________________________The three of them made it back to the hotel to meet up with Fae and Arabella. Rao profusely apologized to Fae and Arabella while Cleo held her head down in a bow. After being caught up to the events of the day, everyone had plenty of questions they wanted answered.
Arabella was the first one to ask. “What makes Cleo so special that she could take your collar off?”
Reflexively reaching for the golden bell, Rao explained. “Even though she left about 10 years after I got it, she saw how important this collar is to me.” Rao rang the bell before continuing. “While we aren’t family, we practically grew up together. We have complete trust in each other.”
Choco finally had the time to ask Cleo a question she had for a while now. “How did you get a hold of Rao like that? When I grabbed her, she shapeshifted to escape from me.”
“Ah, that’s easy.” Cleo said, “While Moon Tail is fairly adept at shapeshifting, she has her limits. There are parts of her that she has difficulty with. She can’t easily change her ears, especially when someone is pulling on them.” The dragon-kitsune took a drink of water after she was finished speaking.
Fae, who had been brushing sand and dust out of her long, blue fur, stopped to ask a question of her own. “So, what was Rao like as a kid? Same troublemaker as ever?”
Cleo chuckled a bit. “Oh yeah. She was always a prankster. Occasionally she would manage to convince me to join in on a prank or two. Her pranks were never malicious though.”
“I see.” Fae went. Putting down her brush, she elaborated on her question. “But what about bullies? Given how you handle Rao, were you the one who protected her, coming to her aid like a knight in shining armor?”
Cleo shook her head, her grey whiskers waving in response. “Oh no. We were the only ones allowed to mess with each other. Of course, there was this one time when we were about 30. A group of guys just kept harassing me, one even yanked my whiskers. I was going to retaliate, but Rao intervened before I could.”
Rao quickly interrupted Cleo with a quip, “They never did find the bodies.” A sinister smile was across the vixen’s face.
“Ignore her.” Cleo said in the middle of an annoyed sigh. “They weren’t even hurt that badly, just a bloody nose and some singed fur. But they did get to see Rao’s ugly side. Of course, they did come up with a name for you. What was it again?”
Rao had to really think for a few minutes before it came back to her. “Ah yes. I believe it was something along the lines of ‘Fire Moon Demon.’ I don’t think they realized how weak my Foxfire really was back then. There was no way I could have beaten them at that point, I could barely even create the fire.”
Arabella then asked another question. “So why did you move to Egypt?”
“Unlike Rao, I wanted to move elsewhere. Not just within the country, but to another country.” Cleo began. “I had family here, so I decided to move here.” Cleo’s face perked up as if she just remembered something. “Speaking of moving, I have been thinking of moving again. Although I haven’t had any idea where to move too.”
Everyone in the room knew exactly what was going to happen next. Rao eyes widened, and her tails waged slightly. “You can move close to us! Maybe even move in with us!” Looking to the companions she traveled to Egypt with. “She can, right?”
Choco, Fae, and Arabella looked at each other. Fae then spoke for the three of them, “Without Dial and Lyra, we can’t really say anything for certain. But we could at least help find a place she could move to.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the help.” Cleo said. Getting up, Cleo said “I think I should be heading home now. Rao, would you mind walking with me for a bit. I’d love to talk a bit more with you.”
Rao nodded her head and left with Cleo. The two walked the deserted streets, side by side taking about the things that the other had missed. Cleo then asked a question she didn’t want to ask in front of anyone else. “Did you tell them about your true magic affinity?”
Rao shook her head, the bell on her collar ringing with the movement. “No. They don’t know about it.” Her cheerful demeanor vanished. “I would rather keep it that way. It isn’t something I want them to know. I trust them, and maybe I’ll tell them the truth eventually. Its just, I am trying to move on from it.”
“Oh, Moon Tail.” Cleo gave Rao a comforting hug. “I know I asked you not to predict if we would meet each other again when I left, but I am glad you predicted that we would meet again on your trip here.”
“I didn’t predict my trip to Egypt, Horn Head. I made a promise to myself to not predict the future anymore.” The vixen said. “Of course, I may have broken that promise at least once. But for good reason.”
Cleo was taken aback. “Wait. So, you went on this trip with the HOPE that you would meet me, but you didn’t actually check to see if you would?” Cleo was impressed by the kind of restraint Rao had with that decision. The Rao she knew would have done that without a second thought, she would have really wanted to meet up again no matter what, forcing it if she had to. “I guess you really have changed.”
“Yup. Like I said, I am moving forward again. Doing my best to not know what will come next.” Rao said, holding her hands behind her head. “It was scary at first, but the longer it went on, the more people I met. And I became more comfortable with not knowing what will happen.”
“Really?” Cleo’s amber eyes had a warmth behind them. She happy that her childhood friend has, for the most part, finally been able to overcome her hatred and fear of her own power. “That is fantastic. I am so happy for you. I do hope your unplanned future has room for one more.”
A reminder, Choco and Arabella's intro stories were already done, so Cleo's was next in line. Hope you enjoyed the story.
Also, a reminder I have a journal open for Q&A for my characters.... I really want questions so I can expand them.
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