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Topics - Aira Fox

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Writer's Guild / KURO: A Dragon Lord's Son
« on: January 14, 2020, 09:09:54 PM »
I decided to take a stab at an Isekai story. This was an unusual attempt for me in that it's my first genuine attempt at a first-person, present-tense story. I am not used to writing this way as it goes against my nature of writing a story, so there was a challenge there.

"KURO: A Dragon Lord's Son" is a story about a human who is reincarnated as the son of an evil Dragon Lord who wants nothing more than to sire a son to become his right-hand in his world conquest and eventual successor. Named Kuroginryuu, or "Kuro", he is trained relentlessly to become the evil dragon his new father desires. However, he is not a bad person and would much rather become a hero instead, or at the very least a carefree dragon if that is out of the question. Torn between his desires and instincts, what will his fate be? Will he fight back against his father or join him?

FA Link: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34611194/

If you want to read the story in its original format, I've attached it.

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KURO: A Dragon Lord's Son

An Isekai Written By: AiraFox

Chapter 1

It was hot. I couldn't breathe. My body was covered in what felt like sweat, but I lacked the room to even wipe my brow. My elbows kept banging into what felt like a plastic container on all sides. If this was some kind of prank, I wanted out! Now! It felt like my vision would fade at any moment, but given I couldn't even see what was in front of my face, I couldn't exactly say that I was even conscious at the moment.
   
*CRACK*
   
I heard it just then. A distinct crack around my right elbow. That was my chance! The more I pushed my elbow around it, the more I felt the surface of this blasted container crumbling around it. There was a cool sensation swirling around my elbow now. Freedom! Now was my chance!
   
"Push!" I told myself. "Push! PUSH!" Finally my arm was free. Just great! NOW my legs had finally broken through the wall in front of me. It would have been great it they got through before my arm, because now it just felt weird. But I don't have time to be picky about it. My right arm and my legs are free. As the greater surface began to crack, I attempted to wiggle my left arm closer to the wall while grabbing the edge of the cracked surface with my right hand. How crumbly it felt now was odd, like a hollow loaf of french bread, though a bit harder.
   
I could do this! Now... puuuuuuush! "Gwaaaaaah!"
   
Finally, I was free! Though I immediately began to wish I hadn't been. It seemed the container blocked my sense of smell because a mix of sulfur and afterbirth amplified a thousandfold hit me. I barely had time to wretch as my eyes lock forward. Instinctively I scooted my butt back a bit against a pillowed surface as I gazed forward as the sight of a massive creature.
   
Standing at least 6 meters tall in a room as large as church cathedral was what I could only describe as a dragon. At least I thought it was a dragon. Nothing like the dragons I've seen in games and movies; its shape was too humanoid. As it leaned its long neck forward, I got a better look. The dragon's snout certainly resembled that of a typical dragon, but instead of scales it was covered in thin black fur. Piercing yellow eyes gaze over my form, staring into the depths of my soul. The fear I was experiencing was overwhelming, thoughts of "Is he going to eat me?" raced through my brain. Yet, despite my desire to piss my pants right then, nothing in my body was telling me to run away. I wasn't sure if I was just too scared to run or if it was something else.
   
"Bring me an Appraisal Eye!" the dragon spoke, his voice a deep rumble that echoed through the chamber. Only now did I see a red-scaled lizard walking upright behind him, wearing what seemed to be a black robe. Was that a kobold? It had to be! It looks like what I've seen in games. Who knew D&D got something like that right! As the kobold shuffled around for whatever the dragon requested, I could take my time better examining the dragon now that his attention didn't seem to be focused on me.
   
He was standing upright like a human, longer arms crossed with each finger tipped with a sharp claw. His upper torso seemed to be sporting a black cloth armor with red buttons and tassels, though if not for those, the outfit might be lost on his fur. Thick pads adorned with a large jewel on each sat upon his shoulders, sticking outward like some fancy royal. I assumed that armor was originally supposed to cover more of him, but he had a small, yet noticeable pudge protruding from his mid section that I am assuming he was lacking something more fitting. He was not wearing any type of leg wear, but fortunately nothing appears to be showing between his legs or I thought I'd be rightly scarred given I was sitting eye-level at his crotch. As for why, it's because his he was basically sitting on his legs. Powerful haunches, that's the best way I could describe them. Curious to get a look at his feet, I leaned forward to peek beyond the pillow I was sitting on. Leaning on my hands, I was able to see that his right foot was very unusual, like a human's foot with only three toes and immensely sharp talons. I thought it was raised up like a digitgrade appendage.
   
"Hmmm?"
   
Oh no! My movement had caught the beast's attention. His eyes once again narrowed upon body, slit pupils shrinking to become rounder. He flashed a grin my way, showing his razor-sharp pearly whites. Did dragons brush their teeth? They glimmered enough that it sure seemed that way.
   
"My boy's eager to get up, eh? Patience." he said to me.
   
My boy? That was a strange thing to call me. Suddenly it dawned upon me to actually look down at my hand. A human hand with a missing finger, dull claws stuck out from the end of each digit. I flexed my fingers to see if this was really my hand. It was covered in an incredibly thin layer of silver fur, yet it was so clumped together it felt as hard as scales. Panic once again set in as I began to feel and glance over my body. Unlike the dragon in front of me, the front of my body was a dull, faded silver, but an uneven pattern caused a diagonal line up my chest where the black of the dragon seemed to come in. The lower part of my legs and feet were also black.
   
No no no! I thought over and over again. This can't be real! Slowly, I turned my head around, peeking over my left shoulder. A thick tail, thicker near the base, reached out and curls around the pillow; it had to be half the length of my body. Now it all made sense. The container trapping me was an egg! I turned my head back around, stunned and at a loss for words. My eyes wouldn't stop shaking and my jaw hung agape, but despite my internal screaming I didn't appear to be making a sound.
   
It's okay! I just had to think back a moment, remember what happened.
   
My name is (blank)... That's odd! I couldn't seem to recall my own name. How does one forget their own name?! Don't panic, I just have think! I was a 20 year-old human. Good! I remember that much. I had just finished my final class of the day at (blank) University! Dammit! Another name I can't remember. It is as if someone applied White-Out to my brain! Whatever... I just have to keep remembering... My final class for the day had just ended. It wasn't a hard class, an electoral mythology class I took just for the credits. I admit I've always loved dragons and minotaurs and stuff, so I thought it would be cool. Unfortunately, it was more discussing the impact and meaning of stories from the past. Come to think of it, being a dragon would be pretty cool if I had been given the chance to do this on my own terms.
   
Anyway, back to what I was supposed to be thinking about. Class ran late and it had gotten dark. I walked back to my dorm same as I always had in the past. The area was pretty safe and I was a fairly fit individual, so I never felt as risk for anything. As I approached the crosswalk to head to my dormitory, I... That's where it all went blank! I remembered hearing voices about that time, but everything else was a blur. Was I hit by a car? Did someone stab or shoot me? Did I faint due to the million other things that can happen to a human body? Did I die? Am I alive now and just dreaming?
   
This seemed too real to be a dream. Wait! Could it be...?
   
Don't tell me I've been reincarnated! Like one of those anime series or novels that seem to be plaguing every outlet of the internet and manga sections of stores? Those were real?! I admit... I've enjoyed my fair share of them. Some of them are pretty interesting, but many feel like they're just trying to cash in on a fad. Well if I really did die in such a lame way, I guess I couldn't criticize anyone.
   
The kobold finally returned carrying with him what seemed like a clear sapphire glass. Even I could see through it. The dragon delicately picked up the sapphire between his claws, small symbols I couldn't make out light up the edges. The dragon noticed my interest in the thing.
   
"This, little one? This is an Appraisal Eye, one of the tools created by humans," he began explaining, though I don't think he was convinced I would understand what he was saying based on how belittling his voice sounded. It sounded a bit like he just wanted to hear himself talk. Strangely, I kind of wanted to hear him talk as well. "It's easy to measure one's strength based on appearance, but magic is another matter. A spell is the same strength no matter who casts it, but how does one measure how strong a particular spell is without using it? How strong is it? How much of a person's energy does it use? A spell was developed for just such an occasion, but that wastes energy and is only temporary. Those humans are quite crafty and infused their magic in a tool that, when used, displays everything you need to know about a particular spell as long as you understand the ancient writings of the gods!"
   
As he spoke to me, I couldn't help but admire just how full of himself he sounded. It's amazing how he was speaking as if he had something to do with all of it, even though I was pretty sure he did not. He seemed like he was trying to convince me or at least himself of that. Oops! I was so lost in my analysis of his speech patterns that I almost stopped paying attention to his explanation. I missed the greater details of what he was saying!
   
"And so in addition to told us about spells, it works on items and even living creatures, though it is fallible. Using an Appraisal Eye too many times can cause it to overload and break, and given how rare these stones are, we prefer not to waste them."
   
So from the parts I did hear, I could guess that the stone can be used to display the strength and abilities of anyone or anything like the stat screen in an RPG. Now this is really sounding like an anime! What's next? Am I going to embark on a quest to save the world? I guess that would be pretty cool.
   
The dragon had finally finished speaking and it was holding the stone up to his right right eye, focusing on me. I could only imagine what it said.
   
"Rank B. Magical Molecules are at around 10,000." He sounded disappointed. "I guess I couldn't ask for much more than that from a child. But he is MY son! With how many females I had to go through to get a single egg, I was certain he'd be more."
   
"Lord Jathir!" the kobold stammered, trying to appease what I presumed was his dragonic master. "You should be proud! Even among your glorious kind, it's extremely rare for a child to be born with a rank greater than C, is it not?" He kept bowing to the dragon. "Is it not BECAUSE he was YOUR son that he has a rank of B?"
   
They kept mentioning rank B. Was that bad? Good? The kobold seemed impressed, but the dragon claiming to be my father was acting like I was a failure.
   
"I suppooooooose..." Yep, he was definitely ashamed of me already. I opened my mouth to demand he stop talking about me in such a way, but the only sound that came past my lips was an almost inaudible "Arrr?"
   
Now I was the one disappointed in me! I covered my face in embarrassment. If this was one of those stories, I'd be closer to my age, capable of speech and everything. This was not the case, so I guess I was just reincarnated in some unrelated manner. Maybe it wasn't like that after all. Still, regardless of my own physical limitations, my body was screaming at me to not let him get away with disrespecting me. I had a 3.7 GPA in my school. I was not stupid!
   
I attempted to stand. Bad move on my part. My legs lacked the strength to hold my body up, and these wings on my back were too dinky to support to my weight to fall backward. I fell forward. The pillow sliped from under my foot and I tumbled over the pedestal. Not good! My eyes darted to my right to see that the dragon and kobold were still talking. They hadn't even noticed that I was falling. What am I going to do? I did the first thing that came to my mind.
   
I screamed.
   
Less of a scream, it was more of a mix between a cry and a roar. In the blink of an  eye, four hands appeared beneath me. Not only the kobold that was talking to my supposed dad, but two others had dove onto the scene to cushion my fall. At least one of them, a green-colored one, had fallen over completely. I was saved! I sighed with relief, tears dripping subconsciously from my tiny form. As I wiped away the hazy liquid, I could better see my saviors. The irises of each of them were glowing dimly, zoned-out expressions slathered across each of their faces. I glanced toward the dragon to see a wide grin spread across his face.
   
"THAT'S MY BOY!" Jathir smirked, finally sounding pleased with something. He held up the stone to his eye again. My Magical Molecules had dropped to about 9,400, but it did not concern my father. "Imperatus Will," I heard him mutter. "Seems to be a lot like my Merciless Will."
   
As the kobolds regained sense of themselves, they seemed to be completely aware of their actions. "What happened?" the red kobold from before asked, holding me up toward the ceiling. "I'm glad we saved him, but my body just moved on its own there."
   
I was wondering the same thing myself. What did just happen there? Why were their eyes glowing?
   
"He seems to have been bestowed an 'Ability'. Just like me," Jathir revealed. Before I could wonder what he meant by that, he gave the answer. "Imperatus Will. It's a power once held by one of my ancestors. Anyone weaker than the individual has their will temporarily overwritten by the user. It works much better on lizardfolk like you."
   
"Then..." the green-scaled kobold began to say.
   
"Precisely! He Is definitely MY child!" bellowed Jathir. "It's just like my Ability, 'Merciless Will!' Although it would seem he can't yet activate it on his own." He threw his right arm form, causing a cape I didn't notice before to flap behind him. "Kuro! That's his name! The black and silver dragon, Kuroginryuu, who will become my right-hand! My legacy!"
   
So now he was giving me a name? Seeing how I couldn't remember my own name, I guess I couldn't complain. But was it Kuro? Or Kuroginryuu? If I was stuck between the two, I think I'd have prefered Kuro. It's far less of a mouthful. I felt like I'd bite my own tongue trying to say my own name if it's the latter. Still... I wished I could've remembered my real name. Now the only thing swimming around my head was the name Kuro and Kuroginryuu.
   
My name is Kuro! I suddenly thought to myself without intending to.
   
...I hated myself then. Don't tell me... Was my own name just overwritten! What other things did this reincarnation thing take from me?!
   
Jathir finally reached over to apprehend me from his minion. The cold touch of the  kobold's hand around my waist were replaced with a welcoming warmth from the dragon's touch beneath my armpits. He adjusted my position so that as he bent his left arm, I was able to sit upon it. Instinctively I clung to his body to keep my balance. It's so strange that this dragon I feared only moments ago now provided me with a sense of security I did not have before. Every shaking muscle in my body had stilled. I... didn't want to let go.
   
"As soon as he's able to walk, we'll begin his training," Jathnir announced to the room. Turning around, I could see that the room was filled with various individuals, ranging from more lizardfolk to even humans. At least, they might've been humans. It was hard to tell from my position. This dragon sure was making a big deal out of my birth-hatching... whatever. No matter what you call it, he was making it into quite the spectacle.
   
"Valka!" Jathir roared loudly. It's the first time his voice was enough to cause the kobolds around him to shudder, though I couldn't be certain whether it was out of fear or respect of his commanding voice.
   
A figure at the front of the crowd made itself known. This one was a lizardman like the other kobolds, but something about them seemed different. Their shape was noticeably different from a kobold, instead looking more like a cross between a salamander and an alligator. Their scales were a deep albino color, though with the amount of red scars across their face and arms I wouldn't have blamed anyone for thinking otherwise. If I had taken an educated guess, I would've surmised that their color made them stand out, resulting in a lot of fights. Their entire upper and lower body was clad in armor crafted from some kind of combination of iron and ruby. It seemed to blend with the scars on their body, making for a good look.
   
"Yes, Lord Jathir!" the lizardman spoke, her voice gruff, but hiding a tenderness behind it. Her buff appearance and voice together made it seem like she was the kind of person who would beat you to a pulp for bumping into her, but apologize to you after. She knelt down on one knee and bowed her head to Jathir.
   
"General, I expect you'll be ready to add his physical training to your regime within the next 10 days?" Jathir asked her, though his question seemed to be more of a command than anything.
   
"Of course, my lord!" responded the female lizardman, keeping her head low and eyes closed. "I am honored you would consider me worthy to oversee his training." I could tell that she was hiding a giddiness behind her words. And if I could see that much, I was positive that Jathir could too. "This actually works perfectly. The newest recruits are set to begin in 3 days. It'll give him far more opponents to improve against."
   
"Perfect," Jathir replied with a satisfied nod, but it was clear that Valka couldn't see that.
   
I had been so engrossed in the conversation that details of it were only hitting me then. Ten days?! Never mind walking by that time, that I felt I might be able to do, but being able and ready to train? With HER? Something like that?! I felt ready to faint, unintentionally clinging closer against my father. Again I found myself calling him that. The more I do so, the more I felt I might start to believe it. Even if my mind refused it, my body seemed convinced of its blood bond.
   
So this is how it begins. This is my life as a dragon. Where others might imagine the awesomeness of terrorizing kingdoms, hoarding gold and treasure, or bestowing wisdom upon mortal races, I'm about to have the will to live beaten of my body shortly after my rebirth. Whatever god is in charge of my story must be laughing their ass off somewhere.

2
Writer's Guild / American Herald (Kitsune TF Story)
« on: October 14, 2019, 02:55:54 PM »
Been a long time since I posted a story here.  [:)

This story is called "American Herald".

FA Link: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33424471/

I've also attached a copy for the story in my original format.

Summary:
When a young American male receives a fatal injury on the grounds of an Inari shrine, he's given the chance to save his life by becoming the shrine's new herald. Fearing death, he hastily accepts the offer, unaware of just what that entails.


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American Herald
Story By: Airafox


   
"What's going on? I can't... move..." The world around Joshua had gone dark, the blackness stretching for miles. The young man could not see his own hand in front of his face, although he was unable to actually move it to begin with. The sound of his heart beating was the only thing he could hear, but that was slowing to a stop with every passing second. It took only a moment for him to begin to understand. "I can't believe it... I'm going to die here... Just like that?! Really? It's not fair!"
   
"You poor thing!" The sudden voice the man heard interrupted his racing mind and demanded silence, even though the source if it had not yet asked. It was a heavenly voice that spoke with the elegance of a choir.
   
"Who's there?" the young man cried out, or at least thought he did. His mouth wouldn't move. The darkness surrounding him lit up in a blinding flash of light before receding into the view of the orange skies of the setting sun he had seen moments before. The skyline merged with the trees surrounding him as he found himself standing before a Japanese Shinto shrine. More specifically, a shrine dedicated to the god Inari. The architecture had to have been 400 or 500 years old, though it had been reinforced by the methods of modern infrastructure to keep the shrine as healthy as it had always been. While not extravagantly large, red-colored wood helped support the structure.
   
Behind him sat the torii gateway that served as the entrance to the shrine, while to his sides were two statues representing the kitsune guardians that protected the shrine. The one to his left was cracked down the middle with its head missing. Below it were the pieces of the head and the unmoving body of a man approximately 21 years in age. Blood leaked from a wound in their skull that dyed their brown hair around it a crimson red.
   
"No..." spoke the male softly. He was looking down at his own body. Joshua was looking as his own body. The tan shirt, the black shorts, the pitch black tennis shoes... They were all things he had been wearing, an obvious tourist. He brought his hands forward to look at them, see if he was really dead, but there was nothing, not even the ghostly visage of his arms. He swore he could feel them, but they weren't there. "Am I...?"
   
"Nearly dead, I'm afraid," replied the feminine voice again. The man turned what he thought to be his head in search of the source, unable to comprehend what he was. Was he a ghost? A spirit?
   
The figure of what he thought was a woman slowly descended in front him, a beautiful woman adorned in gold jewelry around her neck and wrists and a shining white dress. Upon closer inspection, Joshua did not see any prominent bosom upon the figure, making him question if they were truly a woman at all. Their figure was androgynous. Their legs were not only hidden by the length of the dress, but the large floof of a snow white fox. The fox glowed with the same radiance as the dress itself. Had it lacked a face, the human would have mistake the divine being for riding atop a cloud.
   
"To think this could happen on these sacred grounds..." the individual spoke, reaching out to caress the human. Though he could see any form of his body, he felt their touch. It was warm and comforting. "I'm more disappointed in myself than anything."
   
"What are...?" Joshua could barely utter anything else. The sheer pressure of the figure's radiance made it difficult for him to speak.
   
"I am what the people of this land call Inari," the deity spoke kindly, patting Joshua on what he felt like was his head. "I occasionally visit the shrines these mortals have dedicated to myself to answer the prayers I find the most manageable. I am not sure whether it was coincidence or fate that brought you to my shrine on the day of my herald's death."
   
Herald? What did that mean? The thoughts of his continued racking against his brain, making it difficult to think about anything that was being spoken to him. Was Inari here to ferry him off to the otherworld? Did they wish to save him or punish him for being killed at their shrine? As he struggled to comprehend everything, one sentence managed to pass his lips. "What's going to happen to me?"
   
Inari smiled at his question, petting him as a loving mother would her child. "Alas, your destiny is not mine to control. Your place in the heavens is not for me to decide."
   
Joshua became forlorn at the response. If Inari didn't know what would happen to him, then who did?
   
"However..." Inari's words caught his attention. He looked up, meeting their gaze as directly as possible. "As I said, whether by coincidence or fate, you have found your way here at the moment of this shrine's herald's death." Inari's tone became exciting. They were plotting something. "Be that as it may, this shrine has an opening. When one herald dies, a new one takes their place. While I cannot interfere with your destiny, I can offer you the opportunity to forge it yourself."
   
"What do you mean?" Joshua managed to ask.
   
"If you wish, you may pass on to your ultimate fate. I'm afraid the healers of this time, those paramedics, will not reach you in time to save your life," explained the god. "But if you would choose to accept the position of herald, your time in those world can be extended."
   
Joshua lit up at the sound of those words. While he had no idea what that meant, he had ambitions in life he had not yet fulfilled. If it the choice was life or death, he would gladly choose life.
   
"I still don't know what any of this herald stuff is," he muttered to himself, barely loud enough for Inari to hear. His next words, on the other hand, came loud and clear. "But if you're saying that you can save me, I'll do it! I'll do whatever you say! Just please... Please help me! I don't want to die!"
   
Inari gripped Joshua's form tightly, squeezing it into a ball. At least, he could only assume as much given he could not exactly see what he looked like.
   
"Your words are your own," spoke Inari again. "This is the destiny you have chosen."
   
Inari lifted the almost invisible ball and pointed it toward Joshua's motionless body. With a gentle breath, the ball was shot directly at it, striking it with enough force to make the body spasm. The force of the impact shattered the stone on top of him into a thousand pieces of debris. The dust surrounded him. As the ball entered his body, his pants tore behind him.
   
Though unconscious, Joshua could smell and breathe dust around him from the shattered masonry. It brought forth a violent coughing fit that pained his face. With each cough, he felt like his face was being torn off, as if each outburst was pushing his face forward. His arms twitched non-stop and he swore he could feel his feet cracking. Despite of this, there was no pain. Rather, he couldn't feel any pain. His nerves seemed incapable of registering pain toward his brain as anything more than pressure. Perhaps it was due to his near-death state, but there was no way he could be certain of that.
   
Joshua's body began to glow, spreading a warmth he had never felt before across and throughout his body. His heart's palpitations had not increased. If anything, they had slowed considerably, confusing him even more. This was not the way the human body was supposed to work. Then again, if he had been told that he was meeting the god Inari today, he would have probably chalked it up to insanity. He had been fairly agnostic in his beliefs, so Inari existing didn't puzzle him as much as everything else that was going on.
   
As the warmth spread to his head, Joshua's ears began burning. Some kind of invisible force seemed to be grabbing hold of them tightly and pulling on them, almost like they were being ripped off his head. The same force was grabbing at his feet, but instead of tugging, it was squeezing them, particularly around his toes now.
   
Finally his coughing began to die down. The intensity of his attack diminished, but each individual cough became harder and stronger. If he could describe it, it was similar to having something stuck in his throat that was he was trying to expel. He could feel his mouth begin to grind his teeth as he tried to contain the next cough. The grinding was intense enough that he could hear the enamel chipping away. Unfortunately his efforts prove to be in vain. A lump grew in his throat until it reached that surface, at which point one final cough had spitting up a glowing ball. The glow intensified and burned, before suddenly cooling down and solidifying it. In its place was a golden bell of sorts.
   
It was at this point that Joshua's consciousness truly left him. All his feeling, tastes, smells... They all just stopped. A figure began to cast a shadow over his sleeping body. A snow white paw reached down toward the ball, gripping it.
   
"So you're my new partner, huh?" hummed an older male voice above him. "If this is Inari's will, so be it."



Several hours passed before Joshua opened his eyes again, but if he probably would have believed it if someone had told him he had been asleep for days. He woke up to the light of a full moon beaming down at him like some kind of divine symbol. It was admittedly kind of creepy. As he sat up and leaned forward, he reflexively grabbed the back of his head.
   
"Agh! My head!" he groaned loudly.
   
"No surprise you're still feeling it! That was quite the bump," came the older male voice from earlier.
   
Joshua perked his head to his right. Sitting beside him was a large white fox.
   
"Anyway, it's nice to meet you, partner," said the fox with a smile.
   
"Waaaaaaah!" Joshua suddenly fell backward, raising his arm to point at the mysterious vulpine. "You...! You just talked!"
   
As the white fox broke out into laughter, Joshua noticed something off about his arm. It was covered in white hair. And he was quite certain he had five fingers, not four.
   
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" he screamed again, even louder this time. Joshua jumped to his feet and immediately lost his balance, kicking up tiles beneath him. It was only now that he realized he was standing on a rooftop. As he lost his footing, Joshua tumbled backward and rolled down the slop of the shrine roof top, plummeting toward the stones below with an extremely loud thud. His eyes started spinning from the impact.
   
"Oooof!" the white vulpine cringed from above, peeking down at his new partner below. "Maybe bringing you up here wasn't the best idea after all."
   
A fluffy white lump fell on Joshua's face, allowing him to regain his sense. He began pushing it away, making exaggerating spitting sounds as he brushed hair out of his mouth. His actions stopped as he realized he was holding up a fluffy white tail. "Wha-?"
   
Joshua immediately began staring at it, then to his hands which had become white paws. He wasn't imagining what he saw earlier. He sprang to his feet, barely but successfully managing to keep his balance this time. He looked over his handpaws again, then down at his feet. He felt over his face and noticed that it stuck out considerably. He was also wearing a white robe with red embroidery for the seams at the wrists, neck, bottom, and chest.
   
"Finally calmed down yet, kid?" the fox on the roof asked him. The fox leapt from the tiles with a showoffy flip, landing gracefully upon his toes in front of Joshua. Now that Joshua got a good look at the vulpine, he could see that the fox was wearing the same outfit as him, though with noticeably thicker strands of red throughout. A band of beads was wrapped around his left wrist. Five beautiful tails protruded from his backside, each with an equally distributed layer of fluffy fur. Sitting down must have been difficult.
   
"You're a... kitsune?" inquired Joshua, still in disbelief at what was happening.
   
"Figures even non-Japanese folks would call us that name," the five-tailed fox chuckled proudly. "Folks around here call every fox a kitsune, though of course they known the difference between the two, but you lot from overseas seem to differentiate our normal kin from us based on spiritual powers with your words."
   
Joshua found himself swept up in the fox's pace, momentarily forgetting about his current predicament.
   
"My name is Junichi," the kitsune introduced himself as with a courteous bow.
   
"...I'm Joshua..." the human found himself replying back with a brief pause. Suddenly he could not remember his surname. He had wanted to say it, but when he tried to speak it his mind went blank.
   
"Joshua?" Junichi repeated. "Well, it's not the worst name I've heard for a kitsune, although it doesn't sound like a name for a herald. We can work on giving you a proper name later if we need to."
   
"Hey! What's wrong with my name?!" exclaimed Joshua. His eyes twitched as his mind darted back to what Junichi had just said. He'd been swept into the kitsune's pace so quickly that he had forgotten all about the fact that he had sprouted a tail. "Wait! Hold on a second here! Kitsune? Herald? What in the blazes is going on here?!"
   
Junichi chortled silently to himself behind a paw and stepped forward. Placing a paw on his left shoulder, Junichu began guiding Joshua over to a small pond. The moonlight reflected off the surface, providing a mirror-like effect upon the water. Only now did Joshua see that standing beside Junichi was a second, smaller fox. He raised up his right handpaw to feel his face, noticing that the fox in the reflection was doing the same. He involuntarily twitched his newly pointed ears to take in the sounds of the quiet Japanese night. Strangely, despite all the changes to his body, the hair on his head was still brown, in the same messy spiked style he'd had before. The only other feature that stayed the same was the amber-brown mix of his eyes.
   
"Wh-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" he exclaimed loudly. "I... I'm a..."
   
"A kitsune," Junichi confirmed. "More specifically a herald for our god, Inari. It is our job to watch over the shrine and help guide those--"
   
Junichi was cut short by incensive shouting. Joshua was loudly spouting "This is a dream!" and "This can't be happening!" over and over again. Junichi's patience was wearing thin, but this was to be expected of his new partner. His face furrowed into one of discomfort as the disrespect of being interrupted.
   
Joshua finally lost his footing again and tripped forward, delivering him a face full of grass and mud. His new tail rested upon his back, draped over his shoulder next to him. He glanced over it and purposefully flexed it, once again confirming that was real.
   
"This... This wasn't supposed to happen," he mumbled to himself. "I just wanted to come to Japan once before I got a job. I wanted to see as much as I could." Joshua started to sniffle. "I wanted to visit the hot springs and shrines. I wanted to get some souvenirs. I still haven't visited Kyoto, Nara, or all those places I wanted to visit. It... It isn't!" Joshua began screaming again, not caring who heard him. "IT ISN'T FAIR!"
   
Junichi approached Joshua's grounded body and kneeled down. He offered a paw to Joshua to help him to his feet. "I'm sorry things turned out this way, but this is what happened. I saw your injuries. Had you not become a herald, you would have sure moved on to the otherworld. Inari must have heard the your desire to live and gave you another chance."
   
The five-tails sighed softly as he helped Joshua to his feet. He wasn't very good at comforting speeches and he could see he was not not making his new partner feel any better. "Besides, it's not like we HAVE to stay here. Even we heralds get a vacation every now and then." Junichi scratched the back of his head, figuring out how to best to put the words together. "I suppose, one of these days, I could take you to those places."
   
"You don't understand," Joshua responded, although his sniffling had lessened thanks to Junichi's offer to help. At the very least the five-tails was getting through to him. "It's not just that. I studied my ass off in college! I was supposed to meet up some college buddies this fall and we were going to make our own game studio. How the hell will they react if I walk in looking like this? What are my parents going to think?"
   
"Well, probably nothing," Junichi admitted, sparking more confusion from Joshua who clearly did not understand what the kitsune was insinuating. "Unless your family has a strong bloodline connection with Japanese priests and shrine maidens, they probably wouldn't even be able to see you."
   
"Wait! What?!" Joshua reached forward and gripped Junichi's robes, causing a gold ball dangling around his neck to jiggle. "What do you mean they can't see me?"
   
"Well you are a herald now," Junichi reminded him. "Heralds can only be seen by other spiritual beings and those with a  strong connection to the gods, such as a priest or shrine maiden. We can interact with the world around us, but we can only see and speak to those who are connected to us. But if someone makes an offering, we can impose ourselves into their lives to help them out. If the offering is strong enough, we might even be able to meet them."
   
Junichi's explanation made Joshua feel sick. This was not what he thought he had agreed to when he said he would become a herald if Inari saved him. Had they even really saved him if nobody could see him? How was this any different from being dead? The only difference he could see was that he was a kitsune now.
   
"What if I stop being a herald?" he wondered aloud. He was not being entirely serious, but he did wonder if it was possible to quit. Junichi smirked as if expecting Joshua to ask that eventually.
   
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Junichi explained. "Sure, you could run away, but you'd never stop being a herald. Eventually neglecting your duties would take a great toll on your health. It'll corrupt your soul and you will eventually devolve into a youkai, a demon. You'll lose all sense of yourself and become a monster that must be put down by exorcists."
   
Joshua was not entirely sure if he believed Junichi. It seemed to convenient to keep him around.
   
"Of course," Junichi continued, "that would take a long time. It would take a couple hundred years for you to regress that far. Most heralds who abandon their duties realize they cannot take the strain and return to their shrines eventually."
   
Junichi reached into his robes and pulled out a golden ball similar to the one around his neck.
   
"I suppose you're wonder what's stopping you from just taking an extended vacation then if you have a hundred years of free time. That's where this comes in." Junichi held out the orb and squeezed it tightly, causing Joshua to freeze up. "This is your Star Ball. Think of it as your soul or spirit orb. You will always know where it is, and if any harm were to come to it, so to would that harm fall upon you."
   
"Nngh! Th-That... hurts..." Joshua groaned.
   
"I bet it does," Junichi cackled loudly. "Once you've proven yourself a capable herald, I'll return your Star Ball. Until then, I'll be holding onto it to ensure you don't go running off. Can't have my new partner disappearing on me and then getting lost."
   
"Okay! Okay! I won't run off! Just please stop! Agh!" Joshua's whole body writhed in pain, suggesting that Junichi was doing far more than simply squeezing the orb. It was not like he could question it, though. Part of his harbored thoughts of finding a way to pay Junichi back for the pain as Junichi slowly loosened his grip, but if he were to move at an inopportune time, Junichi was sure to punish him far more severely.
   
Junichi perked up his ears.
   
"Come!" he ushered, grabbing Joshua by the scruff of his neck and pulling him into the air. The ground shrank beneath him as Junichi jumped, clearing the entire building and landing on the other side of the shrine. Joshua's landed was far less graceful.
   
"Look!" pointed Junichi.
   
Ascending the stairway to the shrine was a boy probably four of five years younger than Joshua was. His sullen face was hidden behind drooping black hair that had lost its combing over the course of the humid day. He was dressed in all black, his top a buttoned uniform and his legs covered in long black slacks.
   
"His name is Fujikawa Hayato, or I guess Hayato given how you from overseas address people," explained the kitsune. "Though he does not wish it, he is the eldest child of the previous shrine keepers and is next in line to reside over this shrine. His mother was the shrine maiden. I'm afraid his father passed away when he was young and his mother died just over the spring."
   
Joshua felt some form of sympathy for the boy upon hearing that. That was rough for any child to deal with. He'd lost his own mother at a young age, but his father had found a nice woman a few years later and Joshua grew to love her like a mom as well. This boy, however, had lost both his parents.
   
"Hayato has a younger sister, but she's living with his grandparents on his father's side. Hayato does not want to be a priest. I think he mentioned wanting to be writer or something."
   
"Then why does he stay?" Joshua asked the kitsune. It was one thing for Joshua himself, he did not get a choice in the matter anymore. But what was stopping Hayato from leaving?
   
"He's afraid if he leaves before his sister has a chance to take over, he'll risk losing a precious memento of his mother and--"
   
"What are you preaching about now, Junichi-sama?" Hayato growled as he came up the stairs, spotting the pair of kitsune. Hayato knew Junichi had a habit of talking about him to other heralds and he was not a fan, even if it was because Junichi cared about him.
   
"Good evening, Hayato-kun! Late night at cram school?" Junichi greeting, immediately changing the subject.
   
"I have high school exams coming up later," Hayato sighed. "If I don't get a good score, I'll have to go to school on the other side of town. The last thing I need is to spend more unnecessary time doing that. And it's not like any of my friends are planning on going there."
   
Hayato looked up to properly greet Junichi, meeting with the kitsune's welcoming sapphire blue eyes. Junichi reached over and patted on Hayato on the head. Whereas Joshua was not much larger than Hayato, Junichi was a good amount taller. Hayato's gaze finally met with Joshua. Barely paying him any attention, he turned back to Junichi.
   
"Did Yuudai-sama finally pass on?" Hayato inquired.
   
"I'm afraid so," replied Junichi. "This here is my new partner, Joshua."
   
"I see," Hayato bowed to Joshua. "Please look over this shrine with Junichi-sama, Joshua-sama." Hayato, too, agreed the name was weird, but unlike Junichi, he wouldn't dare be so informal with a herald.
   
"No need to be so tense, Hayato-kun!" Junichi laughed, pulling Joshua over next to him with a wide hug. "Joshua here is still young! Barely older than you! I hope you two will get along!"
   
"Yes. I understand," Hayato replied with a soft smile. "I'm tired, so I am going to prepare dinner and then a bath. I'll talk with grandfather tomorrow about possibly setting up a proper service for Yuudai-sama."
   
"Just keep it simple," Junichi chuckled before allowing Hayato to head inside. He glanced over to Joshua, who seemed perplexed.
   
"He's a good kid, isn't he?"
   
"Huh? Oh... yeah." answered Joshua. "But Hayato speaks English surprisingly well. I was just wondering why you would talk to him in English?"
   
"English? Kid, he was speaking Japanese the entire time."
   
"I... What?" Joshua's confusion would never cease today, it seemed. "How?! I mean, I know a little Japanese (I took some in college), but I can't speak it that well!"
   
"It is one of the blessings of being a herald," Junichi went on to say. "I'll have to teach you proper Japanese so you can read it, but when someone speaks to you, you hear what they're saying in your mind and perceive it as your own language. It's so you can fulfill the prayers of all who come here, regardless of their origin."
    
That made more sense than Joshua was expecting. With everything else going on today, that seemed like the least weird thing.
   
"Anyway, come watch the night sky with me. We have lots to talk about," the five-tails requested. He once again grabbed Joshua by the scruff of his neck and pulled him up onto the roof with a single leap. The landing was better this time, but Joshua swas still not used to walking on digitgrade feet. It would take a while for him to get the hang of it.
   
Junichi sat down on the roof, his tails never seeming to get in the way. He patted the tiles next to him, inviting Joshua to sit beside him. With nothing else to do, he conceded and took a seat. It was a bit awkward to sit with a tail, but since there was no support behind him, he did not have to worry about it too much.
   
"So kid, tell me about yourself. Where is it you come from? What was your life like before you became my partner?" Junichi asked him. He wanted to establish the fact that Joshua could talk to him about anything. After all, they would be together for hundreds of years if all went well.
   
Joshua gazed down at the scene below. The fox statue that had cracked before had been restored to its former glory, likely Inari's handiwork. Although it was faint and difficult to spot, Joshua's noticed even from this distance that the top of the statue's head had been altered slightly to vaguely represent the identity of the shrine's new herald. The smell of the grass and pond below came in much stronger on his foxish nose. The sounds of the cicadas on the warm night were more intense than before on his sensitive fox ears. This was all real. This was his life now.
   
Joshua wondered what would happen to his family and friends. Would any of them come looking for him? Would they ever learn what had happened? The thoughts depressed him, so he thought about talking to Junichi to cheer himself up a little.
   
"Well Junichi...san, as I said, my name is Joshua. I come from the United States, a state called California..."

3
Art Gallery / Mass Virmir Clone TF Commission Idea (Closed)
« on: February 24, 2017, 11:19:22 AM »
Since I occasionally joke about the idea that Virmir should make more of him, he suggested not that long ago that I should propose a group pic of multiple people turning into him. So, I figured I'd make a forum topic asking who here would be interested in chipping in to become a Virmir in a mass TF pic next time Virmir opens up.

If you're interested, post here. You wouldn't necessarily have to be a flesh Virmir. If you're an inflatable or plush, you could become an inflatable or plush Virmir.

4
Writer's Guild / F.E.W.: Fox Empire Wars
« on: September 10, 2016, 07:48:29 PM »
F.E.W.: Fox Empire Wars takes place on the world of Inari. Inari is a world of magical, anthropomorphic Foxes. Centuries ago, the Black Fox Empire was driven to extinction after declaring war on the White Fox Empire. After the eradication of the Blacks, the Whites took it upon themselves to act as the general peacekeepers and dominant force in the world, resulting in hundreds of years of peace. But as history would have it, peace cannot last. A rebel sector seeks to overthrow the White Fox Empire from within and a botched assassination attempt leads to sanctions that threaten the livelihood of various kingdoms. In the midst of it, a young Grey vixen discovers a Black Fox child in the depths of the White Fox kingdom. Fearing his life is in danger, she takes it upon herself to look after the fox and try to raise him to become someone the White Foxes would come to adore. They are discovered, but thanks to her pleading, the White Foxes decide to give him one chance to make it up for the crimes of his clan. News breaks out that a Black Fox exists, and with amity toward the White Fox Empire growing, a Black Fox ally could prove to be the very tool needed to take them down. A battle soon breaks out on what should be done with the Black Fox and who should get him. But one question remains... What does the Black Fox child want to do?


This a story idea I recently had that I thought I would try posting every now and then between my other priorities. Look for infrequent updates. Hope you all enjoy it!



Prologue

   
These days, the world of Inari is enjoying a fragile, but long-lasting peace, but that was rarely a common sight in the days of old. Ask any scholar and they'll recant the stories of wars that lasted for ages. One could rarely go ten years without two of the vast empires declaring war on each other. They say it takes a common enemy to unite kingdoms, and that enemy came in the form of the Black Fox Empire. Although, if one were ask about them, they would simply be described as the Black Empire.
   
Inari is a world of Foxes, but though the kind of fox that walk on four legs exists, the dominant species are those that walk upright like man. These Foxes identify themselves by the color of their fur: Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Grey, Red, Silver, and White. Although they all look alike in some manner, to them it would be like comparing cats to dogs.
   
To each's credit, there is one thing each can do differently that the other Fox tribes cannot: magic. The Blues can manipulate water, but they cannot create it. These Foxes live on islands distant from the quarrels of the others. Brown Foxes are known for their terra-based magic, able to shape the ground beneath their feet and create vast underground networks. Green Foxes live in forests, possessing the ability to communicate with nature and create elixirs and potions with supernatural power. The Red Foxes control fire with the precision of an archer with true marksmanship, perhaps one of the most dangers Fox tribes to be around. The Silver Foxes are masters of air, but these nomads are secluded to the point that there are reports that their numbers are not what they once were.
   
Among the types of Foxes that exist on Inari, there are three special cases: The Blacks, the Greys, and the Whites. Grey Foxes are the most common of all on Inari, the only tribe that freely interacts with all of the others. It is said that Grey Foxes can learn to use any magic that does not come from the Black or White Foxes, but to a much lesser degree. As a result, Greys hoping to learn magic tend to dedicate their craft to one specific type, while others handle the manual labor that others don't appreciate the value of.
   
White Foxes consider themselves to be the most special of all Foxes, believing themselves to be the direct descendants of the gods that watch over the land. Their reasoning is their magic. Using the power of holy magic, the Whites call upon a blessed light to cast judgment on all those who defy them, bathing their white fur in a golden aura that makes them look absolutely divine. Finally, there are the Black Foxes.
   
Foxes with Black fur have never been viewed as highly as the others. They cloak themselves in shadows and move mainly at night, their eyes piercing with the blue light of the moon. By surrendering to the shadows, this vulpine tribe transforms into giant, monstrous beasts capable of wreaking havoc and destruction upon all those who oppose them. For this reason, the Black Foxes have long since been feared as harbingers of death.
   
As the Foxes grew in number and the lands changed, they began to interact. However, they were all so different from one another. Intrigue soon turned to fear, and fear brings about hatred. War was quick to break out as the Foxes vied for land and territory, until the formation of the first empires arose. As the Foxes learned about one another, alliances and friendships were formed, as well as mortal enemies that would never get along.
   
The one empire nobody dared to pick a fight was the White Fox Empire. Sitting in the northern center between all existing territories, they kept balance and decreed themselves as regulators between all of the empires. When wars finally came to an end, it was the Whites who helped divide territory, though often making sure they got a cut for their efforts of being “peacekeepers”. But there was one empire that had had enough of their shenanigans and high-and-mighty attitudes: the Black Fox Empire.
   
In the year X1387 of the Unified Inarian Calendar, the Black Foxes declared all-out war on Whites. The Black Fox Empire's territory was shrinking decade by decade as the Whites continued encroaching upon them. The tribe that was feared and therefore rarely messed with had done its best to avoid conflict with the others after the formation of their empire, but no longer would they stand by and allow the Whites to suppress them. Every male and child, and several female capable of battle, embraced the shadows and turned into the monsters everyone had always believed them to be, attacking the White Fox Empire. At night, the Black Foxes pushed inward and forced the Whites into retreat, but as the sun peaked over the horizon, the tides of battle turned and the Whites went on the offensive. Though their fierceness in battle could not be matched, the White Foxes' ability to heal their wounded gave them the slight edge they needed to push the Black Foxes back. Seeing an opportunity to rid themselves of the scariest beings in existence, the Brown, Green, and Red Foxes allied with the Whites and drove them back.
   
Outraged that the Black Foxes would dare to attack the “descendants of gods,” the White Foxes massacred every Black Fox they could find. Leaving no stone unturned, the White Foxes committed a full-scale genocide and purged the Black Empire off of the map. Those empires harboring Black Foxes would be deemed enemies of the White Fox Empire. With the Black Foxes eliminated, the Whites annexed 75% of the the territory that had belongs to the Blacks, and divided the remaining 25% among the tribes that aided them.
   
Now possessing the greatest territory of all Foxes, the Whites took it upon themselves to ensure that none of the Fox tribes would come to war ever again. They wedged their territory into every crevice they could find and separated the tribes so that the majority of the kingdoms could not interact without passing through the territories belonging to the Whites. Thanks to the Whites, peace had finally been achieved.
   
The year is X1903, and there is little needed for the intervention of the White Foxes. The kingdoms are all at peace with one another, constantly intermingling and trading goods and knowledge. The Grey Foxes, lacking a kingdom of their own, have been spread across all of the territories, creating prospering towns and villages in each and becoming part of the various inner circles. To this day, not a single Black Fox had been seen since the wars ended. It was firmly believed they had become extinct.
   
Yet, despite everything, the scholars who study the past are left to ponder. What would happen if the Black Foxes returned?

5
Writer's Guild / The Kamaitachi's Sibling
« on: April 15, 2016, 02:31:47 AM »
A story I wrote in order to help me get back into the swing of writing.

In this story, a boy is raised by his half-brother and half-sister after his father is killed in an accident 11 years ago. However, an encounter with an angry kitsune causes him to come to terms with a horrifying truth involving the mythical youkai known as the Kamaitachi.


FA Link:  http://www.furaffinity.net/view/19686214/

I've also attached my original formatted document so you can see what it looks like in my usual style.

I hope you enjoy!


The Kamaitachi's Sibling

Story By: Airafox




"Stop! Right there!" spoke the foreman as he motioned toward the mirror of the truck driver's driver-side mirror to stop. It was one of those large, longer trucks designed to carry heavy pieces of machinery across long distances. It was ferrying a bulldozer to the construction site of the latest urban development project. A part of the forest needed to be cleared out for a new series of high-rise apartments capable of housing a thousand families. There also needed to be room for convenience stores, a small shopping outlet full of basic needs, and a grocery store.
   
"What do you think, Itama? This is where your daddy works every day," said the driver as he unbuckled his seat belt. He was a tall, well-built man with a rugged chin possible after not shaving for three days. He looked like somebody who would be more suited to wearing a dress shirt or suit than a construction worker's outfit, but this was the only job he could get with his background. A foreign man who married a Japanese woman, this was the perfect job for him.
   
Itama unbuckled his seatbelt and slid over the seat toward the driver's side. Because of the height of the truck, he sat with his legs dangled over the side next to the door. A mere 4 years of age, he was set to spend the summer days coming to work with his father. The man was unable to afford a babysitter, and his wife had died to illness over the spring. Itama was still getting over that.
   
The man smiled and ruffled the hardhat-covered scalp of his son, causing Itama to bat at the hand holding him. A single tuft of black hair was visible from the front of the hat. "Cheer up, son!" the man laughed. "I promise we're going to have some fun here! Tonight we'll stop at that sushi place by the house for dinner, and this weekend we can go see a movie or something!"
   
"Still giving you the silent treatment, huh?" the foreman chuckled as he approached the door.
   
"Yeah," replied the boy's father. "He wanted to go to camp with his friends, but his birthday's not for another month, and they are really strict on being at least 5 before being admitted. I assured them he'd turn 5 while camp was still in session, but they said rules are rules."
   
"We have rules for a reason: safety and all," the foreman said with a smile. "Otherwise I'd hire the young man here alongside his father. Your father is the only man I trust to operate some of these vehicles! Take pride in that."
   
The foreman gave Itama a gentle pat on the head before ushering his father over to help him unhook the bulldozer from the back of the truck. The boy's dad assured him he'd be right back to help him out once they got the dozer down from the truck.
   
"Sit tight, kiddo!" the man said. They were the last words Itama would ever hear from his father.
   
A gush of warm wind and the sound of an explosion going off were all Itama could make out before he blacked-out. When he came to, he could barely see anything. Flames surrounded the construction site and the thick smoke enshrouded his field of vision. He felt weak, and he could swear something heavy was on his back. He couldn't feel his legs and could barely breathe. As his eyelids closed and his body prepared to pass out once again, he could just barely make out the shape of two creatures standing over his body. They were tall and imposing, and it almost looked like they had swords coming out of their butts. He managed to blink once, swearing he saw glowing amber and blue eyes staring back at him, before the darkness took hold of him once more.

==============================================================


Itama gasped as he woke up in a hot sweat, panting heavily with a hand covering his face as his other hand held the sheets of his bed over his body. He took hard and deep breaths, but avoided crying or screaming. "A dream..." he told himself. "It was only a dream."
   
Not just any dream, the one that plagued Itama's nights was the memory of the day of his father's death nearly 11 years ago. He didn't remember much about it, being both young and unconscious, but he swore there were two monstrous creatures there. They were the ones who killed his father! He was sure of it! The cause had been ruled as an accident, mismanaged explosives that set off a chain reaction resulting in the gruesome deaths of everyone at the construction site that day. Everyone except for Itama. Itama had escaped relatively unscathed, nothing more than a few bruises and burns. It was by all accounts a miracle. His body was bandaged unneededly heavily when he was transported to the hospital, but that seemed to have been out of overabundant caution.
   
Itama glanced over to the clock on his desk, the time reading 7:23 AM. He had beaten his alarm by 7 minutes, though on most days he hit the snooze and slept in another 30. After a nightmare like that, though, he wasn't going to be getting any additional sleep this morning. He got dressed and headed out toward the kitchen, yawning and scratching his back.
   
"Oh! Good morning, little bro! You're up early!" greeted a young woman from beyond the countertop. Her name was Maka, Itama's older sister. It was difficult to believe she was actually 12 years older than he was. Her hair was a beautiful long brown tied into a single ponytail with the aid of some nearly invisible string. She wore a dark pink, almost red kimono held together by a blue bow.
   
Itama questioned how his mother could had produced an older sibling such as her while still married to his father, but apparently she and her younger brother by a few hours had been born before Itama's father even met her. The twins were given to family to raise because his mother was too young and poor to raise them at the time.
   
"I couldn't sleep," Itama groaned, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
   
"Never fear! A healthy breakfast should perk you right up!" Maka grinned, flashily holding out a shining silver knife in front of her. Itama glanced over to see her mincing vegetables from the garden into fine bits to mix in with the eggs already cooking beside her. It always impressed Itama to see his sister's skills with a knife. He always wondered if she attended a school swordsmanship at some point in her life with how she was able to handle a blade. There was nothing she couldn't cut with speed greater than some of the best chefs in the world. Had it not been for the taste of some of her dishes, she might have been able to get a job in some of Japan's best restaurants.
   
"Order up!" Maka chuckled, sliding an omelet into view.
   
"Thanks, Maka," Itama told her before he grabbed his chopsticks to dig in. It looked great from his viewpoint, but the taste of the first bite had his face scrunching up. His cheeks flashed red before he opened his mouth steaming. Peppers?! She had to put such a hot pepper in her dish?
   
"Woke you up, didn't it?" she smirked, seemingly reading his mind.
   
"How have you not killed Taichi yet?" Itama snapped at her, diving for the water placed in front of him and gulping it down.
   
"Brother isn't a weakling," Maka snickered with a sinister grin.
   
"Speaking of Taichi, where is he?" wondered the young male.
   
"Out on his morning stroll," answered Maka. "You'd be aware of this if you woke up earlier more often."
   
"Yeah, yeah..." Itama heaved a sigh and finished his omelet. Despite the hot peppers, it was more tolerable than some of the other breakfasts she'd made in the past. Still, he was grateful that she took the time to prepare something for him. "Anyway, it's the last day of school and we've already finished all of our tests. It's not like it'd be a problem if I did oversleep. If I join you here at the shrine, I wouldn't even need to attend high school."

Maka's head perked up at Itama's words. Though they only offered to let him become a shrine's keeper once, Itama had a feeling his half-siblings really wanted him to accept the position. At first he thought it'd be boring, but as somebody who loved nature, he was starting to realize that another three years of school would be even more boring. It wasn't like he'd never see his friends again.
   
"Are you seriously considering it?" inquired Maka. This was not a subject she liked be teased about.
   
"Maybe," replied Itama, scratching the back of his head. "It's not like my grades will allow me a job to make video games or something. I can't program. I can't draw. And my ability to write a decent story is lacking at best. I mean, it's not like this would be the top of my list, but there's nothing I really want to do that I feel like I could actually do at this point in time."
   
"Well, if there is something else you want to do, don't feel like you have to stay here."
   
Itama smiled at her words, though he knew she did want him to stay with them. He wasn't sure why, though. Maybe they'd just grown fond of him after taking care of him for the past decade. He wasn't sure how they were able to gain custody of him living on their own at around the age of 16, but Maka and Taichi were able to take good care of him on their own. The two were keepers of the shrine he now stayed at in the mountains just outside the city. He commuted 30 minutes by bus and 20 minutes by train to get to school, but he didn't mind it. The mountains were a tranquil place to live.
   
Thinking of the time, Itama figured he should probably get going. He had to walk to the bus stop, after all. Itama said his good-byes to Maka and began walking down the stairs that led up to the shrine from the main road, book bag hanging over his shoulder. About halfway down the stairs, a rustle in the bushes caught his attention. "Huh?" He stopped to see what it was, not that he wasn't used to such things. A tall, gorgeous man stepped out from the bushes, brushing away a few dangling branch. He had short black hair and wore a loose-fitting blue robe. The resemblance to Maka was unmistakable.
   
"Oh! Itama! Is it that time already?" asked Taichi.
   
"Yeah. Last day of school. Figured I'd head out now," the boy replied.
   
"All right! See you when you get home. I'll see if I can't convince your sister to come out to celebrate your last day in middle school, but since your graduation is being held next week, she may wish to hold off until then," the man responded with a pleasant smile. He glanced off toward the road as the wind began to pick up. "It's a nice day right now, but I bet it'll rain by the time you get home. That's always expected this time of year."
   
One only needed to look at the local weather reports to figure that out, but Maka and Taichi didn't exactly do that. They had a radio a small television set that picked up some broadcast signals, but they got even less channels than most homes. They didn't even use what they had, at least not very often. If they had a proper computer, he might've been able to learn some coding. Most of his gaming related to handhelds and what he could get on his cheap, pre-paid phone.
   
Yet, even if they did listen to the weather reports, the reports weren't always correct, but Maka and Taichi were. They knew exactly how bad the weather be and even if there'd be a simple shower that could easily be overlooked by radar. Itama realized that dwelling on the thoughts would make him late.
   
True to Taichi's words, the sky opened up to a torrent of rain by the middle of the day. The final period of Physical Education was cancelled and the students were given the chance to mingle and say their farewells to classmates that would be attending different high schools from themselves. They didn't even have to wear their P.E. uniforms, allowing instead to remain in their blue shirts. Itama used the free period to hang out with his friend. Three boys and one girl, it was a small group that enjoyed hanging out at the arcade and hiking in the woods, a rare combination.
   
"So what high school are you guys going to?" asked Yamato, one of Itama's friends.
   
"I'm going to North High," replied the girl. "My parents said they'd disown me if my grades weren't good enough to at least get in there. Obviously they were kidding, but I still don't want to imagine how ticked they'd be if I hadn't passed the Entrance Exams."
   
"East High here!" said another boy. "Couldn't get into that preppy North."
   
"Same!" added both Yamato and the last boy simultaneously, though Yamato added "Although my folks are trying to get me into one the next town over. Agh! I really don't want to go there! What about you, Itama?"
   
"Well, uh, probably East as well," Itama answered with a bit of a shuffle. He didn't want to tell them that he was thinking about not going to high school. He hadn't ultimately decided not to go yet, so he didn't want to spread any rumors before a decision had been made.
   
"Cool! Erina, you better not turn in a preppy snoot on us!" Yamato laughed, nudging toward the girl in the group.
   
Soon the class ended, and the last couple class periods began and finished. The day ended and it was time for the kids to go home. Graduation would be the last time many of them would see each other.
   
The rain came down hard as Itama got off the train and boarded the bus. The roads were slick, and some of them were pooling with water. Fortunately it wasn't enough that it was impassable, but all vehicles would need to exhibit caution when going through roads like that. Itama had seen much worse days, so the bus skidding along the road was among the least of his concerns. The sky began to flash as lightning and thunder finally joined the fray. Itama realized he hadn't brought his umbrella like he should have and was dreading how soaked he was going to get when he got off the bus.
   
They were passing along the woods at the base of the mountains now, meaning that it had been about ten minutes since he first got on the bus.

"20 minutes until I have to walk in this," Itama sighed softly. Glancing around, there only seemed to be one other person on the bus besides the driver. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them, though they wore a heavy rain-proof trench coat. Itama ignored them beyond the initial observation and continued gazing outside the window as the bus drove along the road. Another 15 minutes passed and Itama began to shuffle in his seat to get a better reach for the cord looming above the window. A couple minutes later, he reached up to get ready to pull when a flash of lightning brought something into view. A pair of glowing eyes from a wild beast was illuminated alongside the road.
   
"Huh. That was kind of cool," Itama admitted to himself, though something about it sent a shiver down his spine. Another flash followed almost immediately after, and the mysterious creature was gone. From the very brief glimpse Itama got of it, it must have been a fox. Seconds later, a third flash followed suit.
   
The driver of the bus slammed on the breaks as the fox appeared in the center of the directly in front of the vehicles, forcing the driver to swerve. The slick roads caused the bus to skid along the asphalt, but they were going slow enough that anything serious was averted. Itama found himself tightly gripping the handle above the seat in front of him, taking a deep breath.
   
"What was that?!" he exclaimed.
   
"Sorry about that, folks," the driver apologized over the intercom, even though only two others were on the bus. "There appears to be an animal on the road and--"
   
Glass from the windshield shattered with a loud bang, sharp leaves protruding through the bus and embedding themselves in the seat in front of Itama. Itama glanced above the seat once it was all over. His eyes widened in horror at the bloody mess that was the bus driver and the individual in the trench coat that was sitting in the seat that were position sideways in the center of the bus. The fox used a paw to pressed through the splintered window and step onto the bus. The creature ignored the driver and approached the other passenger. Only now could Itama see the true beauty of the creature. It was a gorgeous silver fox with the most beautiful silver fur Itama had ever seen. Five tails fluttered in the wind that now tore through the bus.
   
"Thought you could desecrate my shrine and flee, did you?" the fox scoffed. Itama couldn't believe what he was hearing. The fox was talking! And in a rather alluring male voice, too! It reminded him of one of the famous pop idols girls liked to swoon over. "Thanks to you, an innocent human was killed. How does that make you feel? Well? Answer me!"
   
The kitsune issued a stern warning and back-handed the passenger with his left set of claws, bring his face into view. Sharp leaves were lodged in his face and the rest of his body. The passenger groaned weekly, body covered in blood.
   
"Well? I'm waiting! Are you going to apologize?" the fox demanded, digging a claw in the young man's cheek. They couldn't have been more than four years older than Itama, likely a university student. "Are you going to tell me it was a prank? Kneeling and kissing my paws wouldn't begin to repay me for the crimes you've committed!"
   
The passenger gasped and coughed. A cut to his throat made it difficult to speak. The kitsune's brow rose as it heard the shuffling of Itama in the back of the of the boss. There was a brief stare-down as the two's eyes met. The vulpine seemed to be assessing the situation. It hadn't expected anybody to be on the bus this far out.
   
"You! Human! Get over here! Now!" it ordered. Itama pointed to himself, only for the fox to growl. It was obvious that he didn't want to anger the creature further. Itama slowly rose from his seat and began approaching the fox.
   
"Bow!" the fox hissed. Itama meeped loudly and quickly dropped his hands to his side, respectfully bowing to the kitsune. The fox nodded, pleased by the behavior it witnessed. "Human, this disrespectful brat desecrated my shrine and caused me to accidentally kill a human! This is a grave offense, wouldn't you agree?"
   
Itama couldn't say he believed in youkai spirits before now, though the appearance of the fox made him remember the two beasts he vaguely recalled the day his father died. Were they spirits too? Itama didn't have time to think about that as the fox growled. Having lived with his half-brother and half-sister for over a decade, he could only imagine how ticked off the fox truly was. He didn't speak and nodded.
   
"Glad you agree!" the kitsune smirked. "I'm going to make him pay for what he's done! And you... You're going to help me!"
   
"Wh-What?" Itama gasped.
   
"It's his own fault. Or is it that you want to die?" the fox questioned.
   
"I... I refuse!" Itama exclaimed. He didn't want to hurt another human, even with his own life at stake.
   
"You... refuse?" the kitsune queried, removing its claws form the other passenger. It casually approached the boy, sniffing him once. "That's funny. You smell kind of like me. You the son of a shrine maiden or something? If that's the case, you should be honored to help a guardian deity like me!"
   
"I... I... I can't!" Itama responded. "If... If you really are the guardian spirit of a shrine, then you are well within your right to administer punishment! But I... I just can't do it. I'm not a god! And I didn't see him do anything! I can't do something to him for something I have no proof of him doing. I'm sorry!"
   
"I see..." the kitsune replied disheartened. "You have a point. I respect your decision. Therefore..." The fox flashed its claws, raising them high above the boy. "I expect you to respect my decision that a shrine maiden that won't obey the shrine's deity isn't needed!"
   
Itama closed his eyes, fearing the worst to come. He was going to die! He was going to die here and nobody would know why. His life flashed before his eyes. His time with Maka and Taichi, his time with his friends, his mother on her deathbed... and the day his father died. The two creatures were at the front of his mind. He could picture them clearly now. They were weasel-like creatures, sharp blades in place of their tails. They had sharp claws and teeth, and their eyes could pierce one straight to their soul. It was strange that Itama could remember them, that he had had the time to think about them this much.
   
He opened his eyes.
   
The fox's eyes were twitching, a look of sheer terror plastered upon its face. The arm it had raised was missing its paw, cut off just below the elbow. There was no blood, the wound having been covered with a patch that was sewn to the kitsune's flesh. Itama looked to his left, where the kitsune had been looking there. Itama's eyes joined the fox's in horror.
   
Two weasel-like creatures--one with faded blue fur and another with pinkish-red fur--stood before the two of them. Sword-like blades for tails, retractable claws that could reach the length of daggers, there was no doubt about it. These monsters, they were the ones that Itama had seen before. The pink one had its claws extended, holding the severed paw of the fox in its right fore-claws. The blue one was holding a small clay pot and what appeared to be needle and thread. Itama fell back, his hand the only think keeping his body propped up.
   
"Get away from him!" hissed the pink creature in a feminine voice.

"Get away from our little brother!" the blue one joined in, their voice more masculine.
   
Itama fell deathly silent. Those voices... They were rough-sounding, as expected of monsters, but they were so familiar.
   
"Little... brother?" repeated the kitsune.
   
Itama's eyes shook in their sockets so violently it wouldn't have surprised him if they popped right out. He couldn't bring himself to deny it any longer. "M-Maka? Taichi?"
   
The kitsune ignored Itama now, its eyes narrowed upon the two that had come to the human's rescue. "Since when did the Kamaitachi care about a lowly human?"
   
"He's our brother!" snarled the female. "It you attempted to lay another claw on him, I swear I will not hesitate to sharpen my blades with your pelt."
   
"If you think a couple Kamaitachi can take out a kitsune as renowned as me, then..." the fox started to say, only for the male weasel to speak up over him.
   
"Do you really want to risk it?" he rumbled.
   
The kitunse looked between them. The passenger it came to punish was unconscious, and Itama had seen everything. It didn't know why the Kamaitachi twins were coming to the rescue of a human, but even if it could defeat them, having lost a paw already it knew it wouldn't escape without accruing injuries. And if the two of them were willing to risk their lives just to save Itama, the kitsune judged the situation to be even more dangerous to its own well-being.
   
"Very well!" it announced. "For the time being, I will overlook this incident. If you agree to restore my paw, I swear on my starball I will let you all leave with no further provocation."
   
The two weasel demons looked to one another. With a nod, they agreed to the terms presented to them. Anything to avoid further escalation was a win in their book. The male Kamaitachi approached the kitsune and set down the pot he held. The pink one tossed him the fox's severed limb. The male caught it and dipped the cut-off edge of it in the pot. He gently placed it against the patched nub previously created and whisked the needle and thread across it. The kitsune gripped the air in his paw to form a tiny fist, pleased with the maneuverability he had regained.
   
"It was a clean cut," informed the male weasel. "Avoid applying too much pressure and it'll be healed in a couple days."
   
"That'll suffice," the kitsune replied. With those last words, the fox took its leave, disappearing into the rain. With another flash of lightning, the fox was gone.
   
"Well then, guess I better fix up this guy," the blue-furred Kamaitachi stated as he approached the unconscious passenger. "A few stitches and he'll survive. I doubt anybody will believe him. The driver, on the other hand..."
   
As the male talked to himself, the female began to approach Itama. Itama tried to back up, only for his finger to stub themselves against one of the seats.
   
"Itama, are you okay?" she asked him, holding out a paw with retract claws to the human. Now that he could hear it clearly, he was certain it was Maka's voice that was coming from her lips. His world started spinning. The creatures that killed his father, his half-siblings, the two that had raised him for that past 11 years, they were all one in the same. His brain couldn't cope with the idea of all of it and shut down. He could hear Maka's voice shouting his name before it all went dark.



Itama woke up on his bed. The worst of the rain had passed into a light drizzle, but based on the amount of light that the clouds allowed through, at least a day had passed. The events of the previous evening were fresh in his mind, but it all seemed like a dream. He could hear footsteps approaching his room. "Maka? Taichi?" He prayed that he saw his siblings enter through the door, that they'd tell him everything he saw was the result of trauma brought upon the bus crash.
   
Maka and Taichi walked in, but it wasn't the beautiful woman and man that Itama had come to know and love that stood under the door frame. The very creatures he now remembered clearly of the back then were there. Out of fear, he clenched the sheets.
   
"Itama, are you okay?" Taichi's voice asked him.
   
"Taichi?" Itama wondered. He gulped. "So then, it's true. You guys... You're..."
   
"We're Kamaitachi," Maka confirmed.
   
"Kama...itachi?" questioned Itama. He'd heard the term before, aside from the kitsune from the previous day, but he couldn't put his finger on where he'd heard it.
   
The two weasels surrounded Itama. If he wanted to escape, he wouldn't be able to. Based on what he had seen, there was little doubt that they could make sure work of him if he fled. It was Taichi, the blue Kamaitachi, that spoke next.
   
"Yes, Itama," he began. "We are Kamaitachi, youkai, and we're not related to your mother by any means. It was all a lie; it was a lie we've been feeding you for the past 11 years."
   
"Then you..." Itama started to say.
   
"Yes, we killed your father, and nearly killed you too!" Maka confirmed again. Itama felt his grip on his sheets loosen, the harsh truth now piercing his heart to point it ached.
   
"Let me explain. You see, like most Kamaitachi, we were once three," explained Taichi. "A tripper, a cutter, and a healer. Our job is to preserve the forest from the over-encroachment of mankind. We push them down, cut off a limb, and heal them before they know what hit them." His words weren't making Itama feel any safer, though he now had the faintest idea why his father was targeted. It didn't explain why they felt the need to kill him. Taichi got to that soon enough. "However, it seems that fate had other plans. We kept chasing humans off with our usual tactics, but they continued to invade our territory. Then, it happened! After tripping a human, our older brother was run over and killed alongside the human."
   
"We were outraged," added Maka. "Our brother loved the forest and mountains more than anyone else. To honor his memory, we swore we would save them by any means necessary."
   
"We're sorry about your father, but things just got out of hand," Taichi continued. "You were the only one who survived, but it's only thanks to us as well."
   
"And you expect me to believe that?!" Itama snapped.
   
"Tell me, Itama, what do you remember feeling back then? Do you remember anything?" Maka asked him.
   
Itama thought back about then. He didn't remember much, only that prior to meeting the kitsune, he could barely make out their form. Everything was all blurry, and he couldn't feel anything. Wait! He couldn't feel anything back then. "I..."
   
"You were pinned beneath the construction equipment," Taichi revealed. "Half of your organs were crushed. Left alone, you would have died. We felt guilty about that; that's the truth. Adults are one thing, but someone as young as you were... You didn't deserve to die! So we did the only thing we could think of. We operated on you, using the spare organs we could provide from our brother. With my special salve and my sister's ability to make clean cuts, we were certain we could save your life. And then we did everything we could to make it up to you! We took you in ourselves."
   
Itama remained silent throughout the explanation. He wanted to hate them. He wanted to hate Maka and Taichi so much. They killed his father! Who knows what kind of life he could have had had they not been around? And yet, he couldn't. They were as much his family as his father and mother were. No, perhaps even more. They had raised him for almost 11 years, over twice the amount of time his father had. Could he really hate them?
   
"Then... was everything else you said to me? Wanting me to stay with you? Was that all a lie too?" Itama finally asked, dreading the answer. It took every ounce of his strength to stop himself from plugging his own ears. The answer came in the form of a hug. Maka and Taichi wrapped their arms around his body, nuzzling him affectionately and rubbing their cheeks against him.
   
"You're our brother! Our family!" Maka told him. "That is the truth!"
   
Itama started to tear up around his eyes. Why? Why was he crying? Why did he care? They ruined his life! No, now that he thought about it, his life with them had been pretty good. Even if he never forgave them, he'd still love them. They were the only family he could say he knew. Though he remembered a little about his father and mother, he was too young to really recall anything about them. He doubted he could picture all their details correctly if he wanted too, whereas he knew just about everything about the human forms of the Kamaitachi twins.
   
"I... am?" he sniffled.
   
"Of course," Taichi assured him. "No matter what happens, you will always be our little brother. If you want to leave, we won't stop you. We won't blame you. But if you want to stay with us, I swear on our lives that we will do everything in our power to make you happy. We will take care of you like Kamaitachi siblings do."
   
"I... I don't want to leave," Itama murmured, finally raising his arms and hugging Maka and Taichi, his sister and brother. "I don't know if I want to stay, but I don't want to leave. So can I... Can I stay until I figure out what I want to do?"
   
The two released him.
   
"Of course!" they both said to him. Maka gently raised the back of her paw and wiped the tears from Itama's cheeks. As her brother had said, they would do everything they could to make him feel like he belonged. They wanted him to be happy no matter what he decided to do. "We'll be just outside if you need us. You just rest and come out when you're ready. Your brother and I will prepare a nice breakfast for you."
   
Itama replied with a nod. Maka helped lower him back into his bed, allowing him the chance to relax. For the first time in years, Itama felt like if he fell asleep, he wouldn't be bothered by anything. He didn't know if he'd fall asleep, but he was going to relax as they suggested. Once he was lying back down, the twins left the room.
   
Though it was still lightly raining, they were going to harvest some vegetables from their garden. Maka looked up toward the sky as the raindrops landed on her face.
   
"Despite all we said, we still couldn't bring ourselves to tell him everything," she spoke aloud to the sky, saying her thoughts.
   
"We'll tell him when he's ready to hear it," said Taichi. "That with our brother's heart, Kamitachi blood flows through his veins. That kitsune was only the beginning. Itama's body will begin experiencing changes soon. Now that he's accepted us, he'll need to accept himself. As his siblings, we need to be there for him."
   
"We will be, brother. We will be!"

6
Writer's Guild / Virmori and the Grumpy Forest
« on: August 17, 2015, 12:55:25 AM »
I wrote a quick story featuring Virmir as he's transformed into a forest spirit. I've included a copy of the original format I wrote the story in.

In "Virmori and the Grumpy Forest", Sein is found not by Ori, but instead winds up in Virmir's tower. After discovering that Virmir can understand them, Sein decides that Virmir is the one who needs to save the forest, but Virmir doesn't feel that's very productive. Sein, however, isn't willing to take no for an answer.



Virmori and the Grumpy Forest
Story By: Airafox
Virmir is owned by Virmir
Ori & Sein are copyright Moon Studios


It was a dark and rainy night. Virmir sat at his desk, tablet pen in hand, as the wind howled and banged on window. The grey fox was unfazed by the storm outside, too focused on drawing foxes. He was kept warm by the flames of a nearby fireplace, though his fur insulated him well enough. Summer was on its way out, and though the cold storm was a freak work of nature, Virmir didn't mind as long as he didn't have to go outside in it.
   
A loud crash came across his window as the sky unleashed its first crack of lightning and thunder. The bang was loud enough to rattle his window, but that's not what broke the fox's concentration. His window had blown open from the latest blast of wind at the same time, allowing light to emanate throughout the room. Virmir probably wouldn't have moved from his spot if the rain blowing in and getting on his equipment.
   
"Trees!" cursed the fox, hating the fact that he had to get up. "Blasted window! I'll have to add fixing it to the schedule tomorrow." As he slammed the window closed and turned back to his desk, a strange light caught his attention. It was flickering on the ground, and for a moment Virmir mistook it for a fallen lamp. He bent over to to pick it up, his cape riding up his back, when a voice rang out in his ear.
   
"H-Help..." it called.
   
Virmir stopped and blinked twice. Was somebody in his tower? Lucile was out and it was too high-pitched to be VirBot. He looked down at the light again, noticing that it looked more like an orb.
   
"Nngh... Help... Please..." the voice called again. This time there was no mistaking the source of the mysterious voice. It was coming from the glowing orb on the ground. Virmir blinked again, reaching down to examine it more closely. As soon as his finger made contact with the orb, it sprang into the air and began floating around Virmir curiously.
   
"Gah!" Virmir gasped in surprise, stumbling back. His eyes trailed along the luminescent sphere's path as it flew circles around him, until he became dizzy and forced to stop. He clapped at it like it were a fly, trapping it between his palms. "What are you? A fairy of some sort? What are you doing barging into my tower and breaking my window?"
   
"The forest!" it cried.
   
"What about the forest? What about my window, curses?!" he replied.
   
The light began dragging him along as it tried to escape, stopping only after appearing to think back on something. "Wait... You can hear me? But... You're not Ori. You're not even a child of the Spirit Tree!"
   
"How can a tree be a spirit?" Virmir questioned. "Never mind that. Anyway, what about my window? I trust you'll pay for the repair. Or you can at least repair it on your own."
   
"Forget about the window!" the light exclaimed. Virmir released the orb and covered his ears. The light was speaking directly into his brain, and the echoing of its yelling was giving him a migraine. "You can hear me, can't you? I don't know how, but that doesn't matter right now.  What matters is that the forest is in trouble! It needs your help!"
   
"And what kind of help could the forest need from me?" Virmir scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. He decided to leave the light alone and return to his desk. He was losing valuable drawing time talking to this thing. He turned back one last time to ask the light a final question. "By the way, what kind of fairy are you?"
   
Virmir didn't really care too much, but he was a little curious and he thought he could potentially include something like it in a drawing sometime.
   
"You can call me Sein," the light answered. Though Virmir hadn't asked for the explicit details, Sein began explaining what happened to Virmir. The Spirit Tree was attacked by a giant bird known as Kuro for a reason that Sein didn't understand. It slaughtered hundred of innocent forest spirits along the way and removed the core from the tree. As a result, the forest began to decay, the spirits began to disappear, and the weather also became more violent. Sein didn't remember what happened after that, only that they came flying through Virmir's window.
   
The toon fox had long since returned his attention to his drawing. He normally had some lyric-less music playing in the background, but it wasn't something he needed. Sein became
 agitated at the sight of Virmir ignoring their story.
   
"YOU'RE DRAWING?!" Sein shouted again. Virmir nearly dropped his tablet pen as he covered his ears again. It wasn't like it helped, but it was a typical reaction. "DID YOU EVEN HEAR ANYTHING I HAD TO SAY?!"
   
Virmir held out his left hand, opening and closing his fingers in the manner of making a handpuppet speak. "Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, forest is in trouble. Blah, blah, giant bird. Blah, blah, tree. I still don't see what that has to do with me."
   
"What it has to do with you is everything!" Sein snapped. Though Sein lacked a face, it was clear how annoyed the being was with Virmir's attitude. "I was looking for Ori, but I found you instead. You can understand me! That means YOU can help!"
   
"That doesn't sound very productive," replied Virmir, shrugging his shoulders again. "You should probably find this Ori person if it's that important." He waved his hand without looking back at Sein. "You're injured, right? You can stay here tonight if you agree to fix the window in the morning, but I suggest you find somebody else to help you save the forest."
   
"So... you really don't care what happens to the forest?" Sein asked, almost sniffling.
   
"It's not that I don't care what happens to the forest," Virmir admitted. "I just have more productive things to do. You said you were looking for somebody named Ori, right? That means I'm not the only one who can help. I just don't see why I should do it if I'm not the one who is supposed to save it. It's just not productive to have two people doing a job that one person can do."
   
"Productive? That's why you won't help?!" Sein growled.
   
"If I'm not needed, then yes," Virmir answered calmly.
   
"I see..." Sein sighed. Though one couldn't tell, an idea was brewing in Sein's mind. "What if it meant you could gain a bunch of cool powers and abilities?"
   
"Powers?" questioned Virmir, slightly intrigued. "Like what?"
   
"Shooting fireballs, climbing walls, the power to destroy walls around you, the power to breathe underwater..." Sein explained, feeling they were finally getting the fox's attention. "I bet the Spirit Tree could even help you float in the air for a really long time! I bet that could help you when you need to work outside!"
   
"I can already shoot fireballs, but stuff like breathing underwater and climbing walls does sound useful..." Virmir pondered, a finger placed beneath his chin. "Could this Spirit Tree or whatever fix my arms so that I can draw without interruption and get me a new tablet?" He didn't need a new tablet, but he wanted some kind of compensation for taking time away from his drawing.
   
"I don't see why not," answered Sein.
   
"Fine. I guessssss I can help... at least until you find this Ori," Virmir finally decided. "But I'm not getting wet. We'll go tomorrow if the rain stops."
   
Sein had had just about enough of Virmir's attitude. Sein was already making lots of concessions. The light wasn't about to let Virmir just casually go about things and risk the whole forest's destruction. "No! We're going now!"
   
Sein crashed into Virmir's side, flinging him out the window with a powerful shove. "Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Virmir screamed as he crashed through the window and plummeted toward the ground below. Fortunately Virmir was resilient, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Virmir splatted against the ground, his body stretching as he picked his body off the ground. His fur was already getting matted down by the rain. Sein floated idly behind him.
   
"Now let's go!" Sein ordered.
   
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine," Virmir scowled, frowning as he stomped his way into the forest. It didn't help that Sein was constantly bumping into him and nagging him along the way. He wondered if this is what Link felt like when he was adventuring through Hyrule in Ocarina of Time.
   
Nearly three hours had passed since they left the tower. The rain had finally let up, but Vimir was tired and hungry and hadn't gotten a single power yet.
   
"How much farther is it? You haven't even told me what I'm supposed to do!" Virmir frowned. "We need to revive the Ginso Tree, then it should purify the water in the forest and we'll be on our way to restoring the forest."
   
Virmir harumphed and crossed his arms. He stopped as something snorted behind him, a pair of eyes falling upon his form. Virmir turned his head to see a large, stone-covered rhinoceros-like creature barreling toward him. Virmir yelped and jumped to the side as the creature rammed its way past him into a nearby cavern and into a boulder, shattering it in the process.
   
"Gah! What is that?" said Virmir.
   
"It's a creature of the forest corrupted due to the waning power of the Spirit Tree," informed Sein.
   
"You didn't say anything about stuff like this," Virmir groaned, clasping his hands together to create a fireball. The creature began charging back in Virmir's direction. It suddenly stopped as a noise echoed around it. The creature glanced upward as a boulder came crashing down atop it. Virmir blinked in surprise, releasing his flames. He shrugged his shoulders and threw his hands up in the air.
   
"Am I supposed to go in there?" he asked Sein. Sein bobbed, the closest thing to a nod. Virmir sighed softly and headed into the cavern. Water dripped along the moss-covered cave walls, illuminated by strange glowing plants and mysterious purple bulbs that Virmir felt he shouldn't touch. As Virmir progressed further and further into the cave, hopping across logs and stones to avoid touching the polluted underground lake water, he finally arrived at what appeared to be a large open cavern. On the side of the lake was a lone tree that stood, long dead by the state of its decayed branches. In the center of it was looked almost like a pedestal with a glowing orb.
   
"That looks kind of important," Virmir observed.
   
"That light will provide you with knowledge of the past. If you absorb it, you'll be granted power unlike anything you've seen before," Sein explained to Virmir. "Normally you need to be a forest spirit to gain such power, but if it's you, I have a feeling you'll be able to gain something from it."
   
Virmir grumbled, but it was just a tree. He'd come this far, so what did he have to lose? And if he gained one of the abilities that Sein mentioned earlier, then it would have finally made leaving in the rain worth it. He wasn't sure what to do or how to absorb it, so he did the first thing that came to his mind. He reached out to the touch the orb in front of the tree.
   
Virmir's body began to levitate in the air as the light began to envelop him. The light entwined around his body and began to spread. It was warm. Even Virmir cracked a smile for but a moment as he felt the power enter his body. It felt great! Finally they were getting somewhere. Virmir could only imagine what kind of power he was being bestowed by this light.
   
The light entered his body, and made his head start to tingle. The good feeling from before suddenly dissipated and his migraine from Sein's earlier yelling returned. His forehead pushed out and throbbed, pounding outward. The pain repeated at the top of his head, once again feeling as if somebody was pounding away at the inside of his head with a  hammer. "Gaaaah!" Virmir cried out, the pounding lasting for much longer than Sein's yelling. Two antennae, these ones much longer than his three, pointy antennae hair and looking far more natural, sprouted out from his head. The looked almost, almost like additional ears, but lacked many of the distinct features of them. One could almost mistake them for horns if they weren't so flexible.
   
His ears began to burn as they were pulled by an invisible force, becoming longer. Virmir could almost swear he saw the light embracing his body take on the form of hands that began rounding out his ears. His ears were lowered in the process, becoming thinner, but much longer. They were kind of like bunny ears, but much lower on the sides of his head.
   
The light began pushing at his muzzle, pushing it inward. His snout was no longer quite so pointy, pushed in and rounder than it had been previously. It was about the length of a rabbit's, give or take an inch. Virmir gritted his teeth as his teeth adjusted. His entire head no longer had that vulpine figure to it.
   
The light then moved to his tail, pinching it. List if Virmir's tail has been quickly shoved through a small hole, much of the fur and fluff fell off, leaving his with a not-so-fluffy tail, but as long as ever. Without all that fur on it, Virmir found it much more prehensile, similar to what one would find on a cat, but thicker.
   
As the light continued to enter his body, his fur became much lighter in color. The grey fur he prized so much began to fade into a whiteness like what was found on his belly. By the time Virmir's body stopped twirling about in the air and was placed gently back down, his fur was completely white. It had a strange, almost creepy glow to it.
   
Virmir's arms and legs felt stronger. They weren't more muscular, per se, but they felt that way. Virmir's feet were a bit longer, but not too much. Virmir looked over his body, then back to Sein. He frowned and crossed his arms.
   
"Well... that was unexpected," stated Sein. If Sein hand arms, they'd probably be scratching the back of their head.
   
"You didn't tell me this would happen!" Virmir grumbled.
   
"I didn't say it wouldn't," Sein retorted. "I admit it's not what I expected. It looks like the light turned you into a forest spirit."
   
"What does that mean?" queried Virmir.
   
"It means that now you don't have a choice," Sein snickered. Sein didn't really find humor in anything, but even they thought that the situation was amusing. "You're just like Ori! You are destined to save the forest!"
   
"I didn't sign up for this!" mumbled Virmir, warily shifting his eyes.
   
The snap of a twig alerted both Sein and Virmir to the presence of three beasts encroaching upon their space. They resembled monkeys of some sort, but they were glowing with the strange eerie purple light that Virmir noticed coming from the bulbs back in the cave. Although the space was wide and open, Virmir didn't exactly want to fight. He didn't even know what he could do.
   
"We have to get out of here!" Sein warned.
   
For once, Virmir agreed with Sein. The only way out was the same way that they came in. Virmir waited for the creatures to draw closer, then made a break for it. He leapt off the ground with as much force as he could exert. To his surprise, he was launched high in the air and toward the cave opening. He hadn't made it all the way, but he certainly jumped much farther and higher than he ever could have before. Maybe this change wasn't so bad after all.
   
Virmir crafted a fireball in his palm and flung it back at the pursuing creatures. They collapsed to the ground in pain, fading into darkness. Virmir panted as he escaped from the cave. Light was already descending onto the forest, giving Virmir and Sein an idea of just how much time they'd spent in the cave. Only now could Virmir see what Sein was talking about. The forest around them really was dying.
   
"Now do you understand why I need your help?" Sein said to Virmir.
   
"I already said I'd help you," Virmir grumbled in response. "Might as well see what other powers I can get out of this. Just tell me next time a tree's going to transform me! I hate it when that happens."
   
And so began Virmir's adventure to save the forest. Teamed up with what he viewed as an annoying fairy, Virmir had been force to take on the role of Ori and take up the hero's mantle.

7
Writer's Guild / Houdini
« on: August 31, 2014, 11:12:38 PM »
Been a while since I posted anything here. This is a very short story I decided to write to get back into the swing of writing. This was an experiment of sorts in that I was pushing boundaries far beyond the slightly more realistic side of things I normally go for. Houdini is a story idea I came up with for a potential series, but as you'll see by the story above, it's a piece that would work far better as something visual than a text story.

Still, I thought I'd share it with all of you. I may post more, but I have other stories at the top of my priority list.

This story is about a boy named Huey who ticks off a magic rabbit and winds up being forced to participate in a surprisingly real magic show.

FA Link: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14418366/

I've also attached a version in my usual format.


Houdini
Story By: Airafox

   
"Laaaaaaaame!"
   
Huey had been like that all night. It was bad enough that he had been forced to spend his birthday with his aunt and unlce instead of his family. The boy's father had been called to an important business meeting up north, and his mother insisted on going with his for the week-long trip. As miffed as he was about that, it was his aunt and uncle that really got to him. The two of them still treated him like he was baby, and now they had dragged him off to some lame stage magic show. Huey knew all the tricks, and it was made even worse by the fact that this magician wasn't even good enough to hide the fakeness behind it all.
   
"And for my next trick, I'll need a volunteer," the magician, a tall man in a purple cape, black suit and pants, and a top hat one would expect a magician to wear, announced as he stepped forward. He offered a hand to Huey's aunt, producing a small bouquet of roses from seemingly nowhere. "A beautiful woman, perhaps?"
   "It's on a wire," Huey scoffed, a single wire actually poking free from beneath the sleeve. The man hadn't even taken the liberty to properly hide it, which annoyed the boy even more. "Do that 'trick' in short sleeve and then I'll be impressed."
   
"Huey!" his aunt exclaimed, causing his uncle to lightly thwack the back of his head. It was obvious his comment hurt the man, who had been dealing with the boy's heckling all night. Even through the main blond beard and mustache, his lips could be seen forming a frown. The brown of his eyes met with the green of Huey's own, his very expression telling the story of how the man knew just how bad his act was.
   
"Hey! It's not my fault he sucks!" Huey snapped back at his relatives. His outbursts were starting to draw the ire of the other tables watching the show. They all knew it was fake, even that the man wasn't very good, but this was a show meant for little children, and nobody appreciated that one spoiled brat who ruined the magic for the littler kids who would be fascinated by the simplest thumb removal trick. "I'm no magician, but even I've read a couple 'How To Do Magic' books when I was young. I could put on a better show than him!"
   
Before the couple could say anything, the man had finally reached his breaking point. He slammed his hands on the table so hard that Huey thought he was gonna at lunge and strangle him. "Listen, kid! I know that I'm not the most impressive magician out there, but you don't see me walking into your school plays and telling you how much you suck at acting! You think you know magic better than I? Fine! Let's make a deal! If I can impress you with my trick, then you will shut your word hole for the rest of the performance, no matter what kind of trick it is! Do I make myself clear?!"
   
Huey was put off by the man's heavy breathing, sensing the seething rage hiding behind it. Huey didn't have much of a choice, and with the fear of other parents chewing his head off for destroying the magic for their children, he realized he owed the man a chance to at least try and pull off something spectacular.
   
"Fine..." he sighed. "You have a deal."
   
The man grinned from across the table, confidence now brimming inside of him. Though he planned on saving this trick for the end, Huey needed to be put in his place. The man returned to the stage, pulling his hat down and in front of him. As he did, a small, golden-furred rabbit poked its head free. It had one floppy ear that covered its right eye, while the left ear remained perked up. There was a resounding "D'awww" that echoed throughout the crowd, children pointing out how cute the bunny rabbit was. It wiggled its nose just beyond the hat's edge.
   
A rabbit? Tch... thought the boy.
   
"All right, Houdini! Do your stuff!" shouted the magician at the top of his lungs, pulling the hat from from underneath the rabbit. The rabbit's face scrunched in confusion as it began to tumble toward the ground in a series of front flips. The rabbit managed to thankfully land on its feet, but it wasn't quite as much of a coincidence as it led the crowd to believe. As its feet touched the ground, the rabbit hopped high into the air, higher than the height of the magician. It kept climbing, higher and higher. The magician produced a single hula hoop and threw it toward the rabbit. The rabbit caught the hoop between its paws, holding it high into the air.

"Now, Houdini! 1... 2... 3!" As the magician's count hit the number three, the hoop burst into flames, exploding outward like a single lit firecracker. The color of the flames causes awe and wonder to erupt from the audience, a round of applause praising the magician's act. The rabbit from his had had completely disappeared.
   
Huey may have been sitting down already, but he felt like he had fallen into his chair. It was amazing! He was at a loss for words. For such a clumsy magician to pull off such a feat, there had to be a trick. There had to be something obvious that he had missed. No matter how many times he recalled the trick, he couldn't figure out what it was. The worst thought of all, however, was that the magician had humiliated him in from of a crowd. Huey could've sworn he had had overheard people from across the room mocking him, saying that maybe he won't be such a disrespectful brat anymore. Huey wouldn't take this lying down. He'd figure out the trick, and expose it to everyone!
   
The magician continued with his stage show, returning to the same basic tricks as before. The audience let him proceed, always hoping and waiting for something as amazing as what they had witness with the rabbit and the hoop. With the magician distracted by the attention of the audience, Huey excused himself from the table to use the restroom.
   
Huey did head for the restroom at first, but he didn't go in. Huey walked right past it without even glancing, tiptoeing his way toward the magician's dressing room. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked, but Huey had procured the paper clip that was used to hold the receipts together when his relatives received the bill.
   
"Stupid magician! This is a real trick!" he smirked to himself, picking at the lock and opening the door. Successful in his endeavor, he shut and locked the door behind him, turning on the light. All in all, the room was tidy and clean, barely a single object out of place. "For such a clumsy dope, he sure keeps a clean room." Huey kicked at the ground and he approached the drawers and cabinets, opening them all to try and find some kind of instructions for the trick. There was a small clang behind him that caught his attention. Sitting in front of the mirror was a small steel cage with the magician's rabbit inside of it.

   
"He was here all along? When did that fool manage to bring him back? Was it an assistant?" Huey shrugged his shoulder and decided it wasn't worth questioning. He approached the rabbit, leaning over the cage. "You were part of the act, little guy. I bet you could tell me how that trick was done." He reached down to pick up the cage, when a strange laughter began to fill his ears. He looked around, fearing somebody else was in the room, when a sudden thought popped into his mind. He turned back to the rabbit's cage, remembering that the cage wasn't there when he first entered the room. He would've noticed it! "Wait a minute... How the hell did you get in here anyway? You weren't in here when I walked in!"
   
"You mean when you snuck in?" corrected the rabbit. This time Huey really did fall backward onto his butt, looking up at the cage on top of the dresser. A stunned look overcame his face, gasps escaping from his mouth when the words refused to come out. The rabbit smiled and laughed; it was the same laughter that he heard but a minute earlier. "That never gets old~"
   
"You can talk?!" Huey finally managed get out, stammering as he tried to get back to his feet.
   
"The answer to all these questions is the same:" replied the rabbit, waving a single finger in front of him. Wait! Finger? Rabbit didn't have fingers; Huey knew that much. As he finally managed to stand up straight, the rabbit reached out and grabbed the latch to the cage, opening it and stepping outside of it. He hopped down from the top of the dresser, but what landed on the floor was not the same small rabbit that Huey had been talking to. The rabbit had suddenly grown in size, at least 6 feet in height. He stood on two legs like a human, and had longer, slightly more beefy arms equivalent to that of the average human. Though he walked upright, his feet were still distinctly rabbit. Other than an increase in size, nothing else changed other than his posture. "Magic!"
   
"M-Magic?" the boy stuttered. This couldn't be real! It had to be a trick!

"I am Houdini, a weaver of the magic arts," the rabbit introduced himself, bowing over a single arm in front of him akin to a butler or a gentleman. "What was it that woman called you out there? Huey, was it?"
   
Houdini raised his head, a single red eye piercing into his very soul. Frightened and confused were the words that described his current state. Huey had already tried pinching himself, but no matter how hard he did, he wouldn't wake up from this nightmare. It was real, but it had to be a trick.
   
"Th-This is all just a trick... An illusion!" Huey exclaimed. "Yeah, that's it! That magician is just messing with me!" He let out a terrified, slow laugh. "Y-You got me, sir! You impressed me! I'm sorry for what I said earlier! You're really good!"
   
"I assure you that this is no trick," informed Houdini, striding toward the boy. "That magician really is a clumsy idiot. However, that clumsy idiot is one of my nearest and dearest friends, so you've probably already surmised that I am not pleased with the way you treated him out there."
   
"I... I'm sorry?"
   
"You're not sorry," Houdini sighed, shaking his head. "Or if you are, you're sorry because you got in trouble, not because what you said." The rabbit snapped his fingers, a single bolt of static electricity jumping between his finger and thumb. "That man has fallen on hard times. Due to corporate restructuring, he lost his job. He was saving up his funds to ask the woman of his dreams out, but he's had to put that dream on hold." Huey felt his heart leap into his throat, swallowing it back down as the rabbit stood over him. Houdini pointed his finger at the boy. "You can imagine that put a damper on his spirits."

The static electricity that had previously gathered in the rabbit's finger shot forth, zapping Huey. Huey closed his eyes, fearing a harsh pain, but there was not even a tingle that resulted from it. Like the display outside, he figured it had to have been an illusion of some sort.
   
"As an act of friendship, I agreed to help him out until he could get back on his feet," continued Houdini. It was strange. Every time Huey blinked, the rabbit seemed to grow in size. "But real magic isn't something you can flaunt to just everybody. Humans would either be unable to comprehend it, or it'd lose its luster." Huey rubbed his eyes. The rabbit continued his monologuing, but Huey was hardly paying attention to that. At first he thought the rabbit was using some kind of magic trick to make himself look taller, but when his shirt felt looser around his upper body, the horror of reality settle upon his mind. "If you put on such an obvious farce that even a kid could figure it out, the smallest sprinkle of REAL magic will have them on the edge of their seats."
   
Houdini grinned to the shrinking boy, a dark smirk that hinted at malicious activity. Huey trembled, pulling his hands in front of him. His shirt felt so loose over his arms. While short, the sleeves of a tan-colored, brand logo-covered T-shirt still covered over half of his arms now. And his hands... they weren't hands anymore. A couple digits were starting to fuse together, resembling the seams of some kind of stuffed animal, but not exactly that. It grew bigger and bigger, smoother and smoother, until the two fingers merged entirely into one single digit. Part of him wanted to scream out in horror, but there was no pain to cause him to do so. He was terrified, but it wasn't like something that jumped out and scared you.
   
"Wh-What have you done to me...? What's going on?!" he cried out as loud as he could, a single tear falling from each eye. Houdini didn't answer immediately, his eye trying to tell him to recall the answer given to his previous questions. Huey screamed out, hoping somebody would hear him. "HELP!!! Somebody help! Please! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!!! HELP!" He cried until he was hoarse, unaware that with each outburst, his face grew outward, centimeter by centimeter. Bits of facial hair began to grow, coating a forming muzzle with a thin layer of cream-colored fur, though a few strands grew out further than that into short whiskers. The brown hair that adorned the top of his skull grew lighter in color to match the enveloping fur, though the distinctive tuft of hair that made him at least somewhat of an individual retained its shape. The shorts he wore felt super baggy on him now, and his feet barely fit into his shoes. His drooped halfway around his feet.
   
Houdini had waited patiently for the boy to exhaust himself in all his crying, a more sinister side of him taking delight in the boys pleas for help. "The walls in here are nearly soundproof, so that the stars can relax without having to hear the yelling of kids. Judging by the applause my friend is receiving is out there, I doubt anybody's going to hear you."
   
Huey took a panicked step backward, tripping over his own clothes that were now far too big for him. It was only now that he got a good look at his lower body, spotting two large rabbit like feet. "Wh-Whuh...? I'm a... I'mma bunny?!"
   
"Weeeeeeeeell... almost!" Houdini corrected, a finger and thumb beneath his chin as he looked the boy over. He noticed the former human child was still missing two key features of a proper rabbit. He snapped his fingers. "Un! Deux! Trois!"
   
Huey winced as his ears receded into his head. The feeling was similar to ears popping at higher altitudes, though instead of the body increasing in height, it was his ears. His ears emerged from the top of his head with a poing, leaving him looking much more like a rabbit. All that was missing was final piece that some might argue was one of the most distinguishable features of a rabbit. He didn't have to wait long, as a sudden weight at his backside kept him glued to the floor. Huey stumbled to his feet, struggling to keep his balance a fluffy, white cotton tail popped just above his rump. He wiggled it once.

   
"This can't be real... This can't be real..." he told himself over and over again, wanting to wake up from this nightmare. Houdini could almost hear his brain collapsing under the strain of the sudden events. Houdini grabbed Huey by his now, elongated ears. The tight squeeze he felt of them being pinched so close together was enough pain to tell him that this was very, very real.
   
"I believe I've answered another one of your questions," cackled the rabbit.
   
"Wh-What are you going to do with me...?" Huey sniffled in response. He was a helpless little bunny rabbit, and Houdini now towered over him even more than he had towered over the rabbit earlier.
   
"You said earlier that you could put on a better show than my buddy out there, did you not?" grinned the rabbit, raising his hand into the air. "I'm going to help you do just that! Ichi! Ni! San!" As the rabbit hit the third counter, the walls of the room fell around them. The two of them now stood in the center of a large circular stage, stands filled to the brim with guests surrounding them. What Huey bore witness to was not a crowd of humans – although there were some humans among the audience members – but a crowd of animals that walked and sat up straight like humans.
   
Houdini threw Huey high up into the air, forcing him into a series of somersaults that nearly caused him to lose the lunch he had eaten before the show. Houdini held out a purple top hat, catching him inside of it. Houdini turned the hat about and Huey landed upon a table, though now bound in a set of ropes that held his arms firmly against hit side. Huey hadn't even realized the ropes wrapping around in him inside of the hat, though his mind was such a chaotic mess trying to comprehend everything that was happening that it wouldn't surprise anybody if he didn't notice something happening to him.
   
Houdini now could now be seen wearing a purple vest and long purple pants, but there was a hole made just for his tail. A roar of applause filled the stadium as Houdini addressed them all. Though he didn't have a microphone on him, he spoke loud and clear as if he did.
   
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! I am Houdini, and I'll be your master of ceremonies for tonight! You may have noticed my fuzzy little friend here with me tonight. I'd like you all to give a wonderful round of applause for my assistant: Huedini!"
   
The crowd did as the rabbit instructed, clapping for Huey's appearance. Huey, on the other hand, was distracted by the name the rabbit had called him by: Huedini.
   
"Huedini?" he whined.

"It seemed far more fitting than Huey," Houdini spoke, plucking the smaller bunny up the ropes this time. At the same time, he grabbed the black covering from the table and pulled it aside, revealing a large metal cage. A lone alligator was inside the cage, its eyes only half open. It seemed tired, or at the very least calm and placated. Houdini addressed the crowd.
   
"For my first trick, ladies and gentlemen, my little assistant here is going to be fed to this alligator!"
   
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Huey, cheeks still damp from his tears. He thrashed about in the ropes, trying to get himself free. "You can't do that! If you kill me, my aunt and uncle will look for me! You'll be found out!"
   
"Aah aah aah, my dear bunny comrade, I'm afraid if you were to die, nobody would give it but a passing thought." A dark smile crossed the rabbit's lips, his single exposed eye practically glowing with the dark magic the rabbit possessed. "For you see, Huedini, I've already taken care of that little matter. Your relatives, family, and even friends are all going to ingest a special potion today and tonight. This potion is special in that it will be all for you~" He poked the smaller rabbit in the nose, having captured his full attention. "This potion is fast-acting and attacks the brain. By the time they've finished their next drink, everybody will have completely forgotten that YOU exist!"
   
Huey's eyes widened, his eyelids stretching to heights that threatened to rip free. "Y-You...! You can't! You... wouldn't! It's not possible!"

"Tsk, tsk, my assistant, have you not been paying attention to anything I've said and done all night? It's magic! And if you don't want to wind up stewing away like alligator chum, you'd best do as I say."
   
"You ba–" Huey cursed, only for the rabbit to silence him by shoving a vial full of a glowing red liquid inside of his mouth. Huey immediately recalled what Houdini had just said about potions and tried to spit it out, but Houdini gagged him with the vial and forced him to swallow if he didn't want to risk drowning. As soon as the entire vial had been emptied, Houdini removed it. Huey gasped for air and squirmed in his bindings, his mind racing with possible outcomes for whatever the potion would do and worrying about it more than the alligator below.

"All right, everyone, you know the drill!" Houdini announced to the crowd of anthropomorphic animals. "Say it with me! Eins! Zwei! Drei! It's showtime!"
   
Huey's mind snapped back to his current situation, just in time to see a gaping wide alligator mouth below him. The line of sharp teeth and powerful snapping jaws terrified him to no end. "No! Stop! Please! I'm sorry! I'm going to die! I don't want to die!" His cries fell on deaf ears as the larger rabbit gently set Huey upon the tongue of the awaiting reptile. Huey kicked and screamed, but it did him little good. Rather than greedily snapping at the food, the alligator patiently kept it mouth open, letting gravity all the work and sending Huey toward his doom.
   
The alligator's stomach was already full of digestive enzymes, so much so that there were no pockets of air for him to breathe. He stopped screaming and kept his eyes and mouth closed, sobbing. He was going to die! He was really going to die! These were the thoughts that plagued him, and he couldn't see any possible way to escape.
   
I don't want to die! I don't wanna die! Somebody... Anybody... Please help me! I... I'm sorry for what I said! I'm really sorry! Though he begged for help, none came. He was going to die, and if what Houdini said was true, nobody would even know or care about it. This wasn't right. It was way too severe a punishment for some heckling. Even if he did survive by some miracle, his life would be ruined. He a small, helpless rabbit. If he got away, there was no way he'd survive on his own like this. You stupid bunny! This isn't fair! You can't do this! It's... not right! You can't... You can't just ruin people's lives like this!
   
The watery enzymes around him began to heat and boil, his body starting to radiate warmth. No, it wasn't just giving off heat; Huey's entire body was starting to glow a fiery red, an aura encasing his entire body. The heat continued to warm up the digestive acids, hotter and hotter to the point it was now boiling around him. Such a heat should have boiled Huey alive, but he wasn't noticing anything. He just continued to curse the rabbit in his mind for ruining his life, telling himself that he wanted to live.
   
Outside, the alligator looked mighty pleased with itself, rubbing its bunny-filled belly contently. There was a loud rumbling grumble eating away at his insides, expanding outward. His stomach began to inflate as the heated enzymes produced a steaming gas. Silence held the stadium as the crowd watched intently. Not just the alligator's stomach, but its entire body was starting to inflate like a balloon. It puffed out to the limit the body could reach, bursting with a pop reminiscent of overfilling a balloon. As the steam cleared, Huey stood there, now completely free of the ropes, though its remains were charred into a circle around him. All that remained off the alligator was its skin. Not the rough and leathery skin that one would expect to find, but what littered the cage's interior was a rubbery vinyl akin to what balloons for made of.
   
Praise and amazement came in the form of clapping as the entire audience cheered for both Houdini and huey. Huey was confused, while Houdini just smiled to his assistant. "Do you realize now what you were trying to do?" the rabbit asked.
   
Huey's eyes lit up as he understood what had happened. He accused Houdini of ruining his life, but he was trying to do the same thing to a man who was already suffering from being fired from his previous job.
   
"Will you chance me back?"
   
Houdini frowned sadly at the smaller bunny, shaking his head. Huey had learned his lesson, but the rabbit wasn't about to let him go just yet. "I can erase memories, but I can't restore that which was lost. Magic can't fix everything."
   
So it was true. Houdini really had made his family and friends forget about him. If Houdini did turn him back, he'd have nowhere to go, especially if nobody knew who he was. Perhaps there was something he could do, but he was too young to know what, and Houdini had made it clear he wasn't about to tell him.
   
Deciding that Huey had suffered enough for one night, Houdini picked him up and placed him gently onto another table, letting him sit back and watch as the rabbit continued to amaze the crowd with feats of magic Huey thought impossible. It was a show Huey felt honored to witness, but his thought were still heavily weighing upon his current situation. His life was still ruined.
   
"I just wanted to spend my birthday someplace cool with my parents... I didn't want to spend my birthday with my stupid relatives..." he mumbled under his breath, trying not to disturb the show.
   
Eventually the show came to an end, as all shows do, and Houdini returned for Huey. After holding the small bunny up for one final applause, Houdini threw a smoke bomb at the ground and disappeared behind the curtain of smoke. Huey just allowed the rabbit to carry him, having no reason to fight back and try to escape. To his surprise, Houdini brought him to rather lavish trailer, one that looked more like a condo. The rabbit had some nice living arrangements, and didn't live inside a cage, burrow, or hat like he might have thought. Huey was placed onto a high chair in front of a table that connected tot he wall.
   
"Een, twee, dre!" said the larger lapine, snapping his finger. There was a small burst of smoke that displaced quickly, leaving behind a small vanilla cake with a single candle, a box with wrapping paper.
   
"What is this now?" Huey asked in a somber, defeated tone, unsure why the rabbit was suddenly trying to be nice to him.
   
Houdini pulled out a chair and sat down across the table from Huey, keeping a single leg stretched over another. "It's a birthday cake, silly. I can't bring back the memories I took, but I can still wish you a happy birthday."
   
"What's the point?" Huey scoffed. "You think I'm grateful for this? That I should be happy? You've already ruined my life."
   
"And you have nowhere to go," the rabbit reminded him. Huey didn't want to be reminded of that; he refused to make eye contact with Houdini. Houdini sighed. "I admit, I didn't think you'd learn your lesson. You were such a stubborn brat I thought for sure you wouldn't make it."
   
"You were really going to kill me for that?"
   
"Not necessarily kill you... I wouldn't have let you be eaten like that – it's bad for business – but if you hadn't learned your lesson, I would've erased your memory of the events that transpired and kept you as assistant for my show. The question is: What do I do with you now?"
   
"Why should I care anymore? Why not just turn me back into a human? I guess I can try to find a job or something that a kid can do."
   
"How about instead you open the present I got for you?"
   
Houdini motioned to the wrapped package. Huey had nothing left to lose at this point, so he figured he might as well see what the rabbit had decided to give him. It wasn't wrapped very tightly, so even with his paws he could get it open. Inside of the package was a small box, one that could be opened with a simple removal of the lid. Huey opened it. Inside of the box was a small plastic card; there was some writing on it.
   
"This license hereby grants Huedini the right to serve as an apprentice under Houdini Fusilli and–" His words trailed off, his eye falling upon the first part of the text once more. "Apprentice?"
   
"Not a bad deal, is it?" Houdini smiled. "I'll act as your legal guardian as recompense for what I did and teach you magic."
   
"Teach me magic?" repeated Huey.
   
Houdini nodded. "And when you can turn yourself back into a human on your own, I'll consider that as your graduation ceremony."
   
From that moment on, whether he wanted to or not, Huey would become both an apprentice and assistant to the magical rabbit known as Houdini. What Huey didn't know is just how much of this had been preplanned. There was a great destiny that awaited Huey at the end of this long and dangerous road, and Houdini was going to make it happen. It was no coincidence that Huey's parents left on their trip when they did, and that Huey was forced to attend the magic show that got him into this mess.
   
All of this was going exactly as Houdini planned.

8
Writer's Guild / School for Gifted Kits
« on: July 14, 2013, 02:58:50 AM »
Soren Fujikata has been invited to attend "Hatsumoto Hachibi's School for Gifted Kids", even though he has no special merit or skills. However, he soon learns that the school has a secret, forcing him to keep one of his own. And if his gets out, he fears he may not escape with his life.


This is a short story I've had for quite a few years now, but I never got around to actually writing it. I hope you all enjoy it!

FA Link: School for Gifted Kits

Edit: Re-uploaded the attachment.

9
Art Gallery / Vir Luos
« on: June 03, 2013, 01:19:49 AM »
I've drawn again! This time I decided to turn Virmir into a Luos. Well, perhaps it would be better to say I didn't turn him into a Luos, but that this is the version of Virmir that exists in the dimension where the Luos exist.

For thos eof you wondering what a Luos is, check out my story and the links here: Soul / Link

Didn't know which I liked better, so here's 3 different versions.

10
Art Gallery / Auroz and the Virua
« on: May 26, 2013, 03:18:00 PM »
Behold! I have actually drawn something!



Auroz and the Virua!

My Zorua character has decided enlighten Virmir to the joys of being a Zorua. Hope he can find an Everstone.  [:P

Edit: Cleaned-up version attached below.

11
Writer's Guild / Digimon Scanners
« on: April 16, 2013, 03:06:31 AM »
In the Digital World, the method of evolution has become lost. Zenon Shinohara is a boy who found himself transformed into a mysterious Digimon known as Zeemon in this strange world full of amazing creatures. Using the power of the Data Scan, Zenon is able to unlock Zeemon's true potential. However, what he doesn't realize is that he's been to the Digital World once before, and the secret to evolution lies within his memories.


Originally titled "Digimon Memories", this is a one-shot Digimon story I felt like writing. If there is a demand for more, I'll continue Digimon Scanners as soon as I finish up Soul / Link.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Like with Soul / Link, I've attached a copy of my preferred writing method below. You can also find the FA link below if you don't wanna download the original copy.

FA Link: Digimon Scanners

12
Writer's Guild / Soul / Link
« on: July 21, 2012, 12:13:14 AM »
So, I've post my story Soul / Link here on the forums. I'll upload the original documents here, but for those of you who prefer FA text copies, I'll link those as well.

Soul / Link is a an idea that I originally wrote for a scrapped webcomic idea. However, since I enjoyed the story to it, I decided to write it out after changing quite a few things. I hope to one day make it into a webcomic or comic again, but for now it shall remain as a simple story.


Soul / Link is a story that follows Ko (Kasali Ossiran) the Luos and his adventures in a world that is the reverse of ours (land and sea are reversed on the map). Ko awakens in an unfamiliar location without any memory of what had happened to him. After realizing that a great trauma in his life was the cause of his memory loss, Ko embarks on a journey to discover what exactly happened to him. Along the way, he meets Tsavo, Velor, and Leria, three Luos who are the students of three Legendary Heroes that stood up to the Dark Lords of the land. Ko eventually decides to join them on their quest, hoping that they can help him with his amnesia. However, if a great trauma resulted in Ko's memory loss, does he really want to remember his past?


For those of you wondering what a Luos is, I will refer you to here: Information about the Luos! More about the Luos!

Here are a couple profiles of Luos:
Ko the Luos
The Jaku "Brothers"



I hope you enjoy!

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