cold dragon night

[Reiko]

(closed)
The Southern city of Red Bay, as legend has it, a battle turned the seas red to give the place its name but now it’s just crystal blue waters and warm sun. Red Bay is now a paradise for tourist to enjoy the warm sea.

Two young ladies were out to enjoy the cost. The older was a red haired vixen with three tails that twitched as she laid in the shade of a palm tree with noting but to hear the calming sounds of the waves and the younger a blue haired one-tail splash around. The pair were more used to adventure but the day was nice so no complaints from the two.

But something was wrong…

Kit soon found that her shade was becoming a curse as she shivered and her bare skin. Inari was not so quick to know with her splashing and diving, heck she didn’t even know until a snowflake landed on her nose. The smaller girl knew what it was but still she blinked in disbelief before heading to shore. “Mom, it’s snowing!” The girl cheered before she realized it was cold and started shivering.

“Yes honey, I know. Kit said as she threw a towel to her daughter and slipped on her kimono to warm up a little then tossed Inari a kimono. The vixen looked around to see the snow falling all around, the clear day had gone cloudy. “Hurry up or you’ll catch a cold.

“No I won’t! The snow’s fun!” Inari protested as she picked up some snow into a ball and playfully tossed it at her mother, but the three-tailed mother would have nothing of it and took her daughter by the hand.

“It’s for your own good, we’re going back to the inn to find out what’s going on.”

=^^=

“So you mean there’s a dragon causing all this mess?” Kit flicked her tails with curiosity before she took a sip of imported sake. The barkeep was good place to start when curiosity arose and this time it was fruitful.

But Inari raised her fur. “I don’t want to kill a dragon. They’re not mean creatures!”

“You don’t even know a single dragon and I didn’t say we’ll kill it.” Kit sighed,

“But I still don’t think we should kill it.” Inari whined slightly.

The bartender gave an evil eye at Inari as he gave his opinion. “Little lady. Dragons are foul beasts that would eat you up when they saw you. Someone should kill this one but I doubt two little ladies like you could handle monsters.”

“Oh you think that’s so.” Kit had to laugh, she could handle a monster better than any man in the room and she knew it even if they were much more intimidating than the vixen.

[Artifex Felicis]

"I should make a travel business" Leon remarked to himself as he continued walking along the road. His one hand was a long stick he cut from a tree to help walk with, and in his other held a furled up map he memorized a day ago. Normally he didn't have to walk between towns, but while he was answering nature's call a safe distance away, the wagon he was riding on continued ahead before him. Not that they would stop for a relatively grubby cat boy riding barefoot on the back. HE spread his hands wide, remarking out loud again. "The Hitchhiker's guide Through Corone! Getting by on 20 gold a day and still seeing the sights!"

He chuckled, hopping down a hill as the loose dirt under his feet rolled. The weather was beutiful at least, and he hadn't seen the Red Sea yet in his travels, though he had heard of it. If it's waters were as good as he had heard, then he could spare a few days relaxing. He threw the stick ahead of him, knocking a small rabbit out as it silently collided with its fragile head. As he passed by, he looked up the small mammal, twisting its neck quickly to give it a quick death. "First step, be a carnivore. Second step, be able to catch your own food."

*~~*

The rabbit eaten over an hour ago and the rest of its body left for a scanger to eat off of, Leon began to come into the town. The air had gotten noticeably colder than from a whiles away in the road. He had been around enough to know some towns paid a wizard to give the entire small town a minor weather spell, at the very least to help resist truly major changes in weather. He was kind of surprised that Red Bay didn't either. Then again, he hadn't been this cold since he had to go to Salvar to try and negotiate something or other with someone. The memory was fuzzy, mostly remembering large breasts attached to a rather pretty cat girl and waking up with a new scar the next day.

He smiled somewhat lewdly at the memory as the snow began to fall from the sky. He didn't even notice the first couple flakes as he went through his memory. He opened his eyes as one touched his nose, causing him to twitch and hiss at the snow. He blushed immediately after, calming himself and walking quickly. Though he wasn't about to admit such a thing, but he always held snow to be omnious. It was rather rational, given the cat boy's background. One time he nearly lost a foot from a tiny ice dragon the size of his arm and the other he was shot and possibly drugged.

He quickly went through the town, stepping in a few shops to find out where a good alehouse and inn were and to get a break from the cold. It wasn't much, but not having the heavy snow fall on him was helpful. Normal cold he cold handle, but washing the rest of the rabbit off earlier still left his fur somewhat wet and incredibly uncomfortable in the cold. The alehouse he was looking for was thankfully also the inn, letting him only make a single stop instead of a few different ones. He entered quickly, tail making a soft dragging sound as he did as snow left a soft, wet trail behind him. He paused a moment to wipe his bare feet and shake his hat from any snow that may have been on top of it.

He sighed, closing his eyes first before making his way to the bar. He would have given up The Forgotten One's power for a pint of Lavinian Ale right then. It was probably the only thing bad tasting enough to really make himself feel good about his condition. Too bad he didn't hate himself enough to drink the bitter liquid. Not that it mattered, he respected those in a queer way who were able to stomach the stuff. He looked round quickly, seeing both a fire in the room as well as the bar. With only a moment's hesitation, he went to the fire, propping his large bare paws near the fire as his hands rubbed them carefully.

[Reiko]

Yes it was a pointless argument that Kit had with the bartender and she had grown rather tired of it. “Alright, whatever.” Kit finished with a Sigh and sipped her drink. She knew she could take the dragon down but what would proving it to this man do, though the right person could pay her quite a bit and she did have a daughter to support.

Inari saw her mother’s mood and tried the best to cheer her up. “Yeah, I know you can kill a dragon but I don’t think it’s right.” She wagged her blue tail and smiled.

“Maybe if we drive off the dragon we could still get paid.” The fox ronin said mostly to herself than her daughter. It wasn’t big of a deal what happens to the dragon if She could find a way to profit.

The tavern had nothing of interest to Kit though she did take one last sniff before swishing her three tails. Something smelled familiar and it was a good memory. The spirit scent seemed warm and catlike, a scent Kadenzaa swore she knew and knew she liked. Still Kit didn’t see anything as the source before she headed towards the door, then she caught the direction towards the fire where a cat boy sat warming his self.

“L, Leon?” Kit asked as she stepped closer to the cat while hoping to be sure, then excitement overwhelmed caution. “Inari get over here!” Kadenzaa called out with her soul dancing to happy music.

“Mommy, what is it?” Inari came to Kit with a curious expression.

“He’s your father!” Kit yipped happily. “It’s been so long!” She said to Leon while approaching the cat boy with warm feeling flowing through her. Perhaps love could last after so long and such a distance, Doji had convinced herself that it was love and not just the heat filled lust that created Inari.

[nekoprince]

There really was nothing better than a fire after a snow storm. Especially if one's feet were far too strange to have shoes, and had to go around bare. The soft layer of fur on his feet were drying quickly thanks to the bright flame. It also helped that they began to come back to feeling again, though there was some pain with all of the blood suddenly rushing to them. He winced, though it was a happy hurt. No frost-frozen feet for Leon.

He smiled, remembering the last time it had snowed in Corone in his memory. It had been caused by a pencil thin dragon with a crazy name and amazingly strong ice magic. It was also the first place he met Joshua, one of his better friends. Though he hadn't seen the small kitsune in a while, he hoped he was still alright. He smiled at an old joke that flew around about him and Joshua, then set his feet down gently onto the ground, glad that the minor pain in his warm feet was gone.

Though he heard the voice, at first he paid no mind to it. It was most likely just someone else at the inn who had no real mind to be there. However, when he heard his name, he tuned in for a second, eyebrows raised in surprise. He leaned back in his chair, tilting his head back so he got a view of the inn behind him. He was greeted by the upper half of one of the most beuitful and scary woman he had ever met in his life.

Not many could guess it, but the kitsune was probably one of the better swordsman on Althanas. Scary good, in Leon's mind. He came down with a clack of the chair against the ground, a wide smile on his lips. Despite that attribute about her, she was also one of the closer friends Leon had. Being the grandmaster of the largest Furry group on Althanas often gave you insight and friendship with many of them.

He stepped forward, hugging the slightly shorter girl tightly as he did so. It had been a long while since he had seen her, and the last time they were in a rather large rush to escape without pants on from thugs. He broke off after a moment, still smiling widely at the girl.

"It's been a while Kit," Leon said, face barely able to control the smile on his face. "How've you been?"

[Reiko]

It was a good first step, Leon had noticed her and recognized her. Also the hug was warm and welcome, showing there was no bad blood against her, even though Kit was sure that their separation and him not knowing his daughter was at least half in not mostly the mother’s fault.

But now was the time to fix all that, Kit didn’t want retribution but just to have her child know her father. Inari was curious as well, though she was more nervous than Kit, using the older vixen as cover when she said “hi.”

Then there was the question, an opening to make the wrongs right, to allow the family to know each other and maybe seal the gap between them and become a true family if at all possible. It may have been heat at the time but Kit was now sure she loved the cat boy.

“I’ve been well, adventure hasn’t been short and I make enough money to live even with a daughter.” Kit smiled to Inari and pushed her forward. “This is Inari, she’s our child.” Kadenzaa smiled. This was what she wanted for the two to actually meet, so Inari would know she had a father that was a good man.

Inari moved forward wordlessly and moved to hug her father. The little fox girl was a little confused and was sure what to say as she held her father, she was sure it was him and it had made her really happy.

Kit stayed silent for a moment, her heart pounding with excitement and apprehension. She wondered if they would stay together or if it just wouldn’t work, it wouldn’t be anyone’s fault, just the way their lives were.

And even with this, Kit wasn’t going to give up the adventure of this place. There was a dragon to be removed and money that would make life easier whether or not Leon would stay with them. Perhaps Leon could help. “We’re currently working on ridding this place of an ice dragon that’s making it snow.”

Of coarse once Kit got business off her chest she moved to hug Leon with her child. “I really missed you.” Kit found a couple of tears creeping down her cheek. Inari finally met her father and Kit had found her first love again.

[Artifex Felicis]

The next few moments caused the cat boy's ears and eyebrows to perk up for a moment, mostly out of sheer surprise. He hadn't exactly been with many women in his life, amazingly few when compaared to the stereotype set for for cat boys.Still, he had seen dragons, fought with vampires, bitten another vampire, and generally lived a bigger life than most others in his short time on Althanas, but there was something about suddenly having a kid that shattered whatever feeling of invulnerablity he had. He composed himself before he really saw anything, expecting a small child.

Needless to say, he was surprised when he saw the girl come from behind Kit. She was shortish, though he could see trace amounts of his own face in hers. By far however, she took after her mother, except for perhaeps her hair. His smile shortened slightly, though he meant it as he smilied. He never reallly found it terribly awkward to meet knew people, but the anxiaty of meeting your daughter was something he never really had to deal with before. The question of how she got so big in under a year however, tickled in his mind. It was Althanas after all, there were many stranger things than that. Though, it was sort of like getting hit by the only strong bandit in an area. It's something you always think happens to someone else.

The two wodlessly hugged each other, Leon hoping that he wasn't coming off as a bad man in front of the girl. It was something he sometimes did, often without thinking about it. He's say the wrong thing or do the worst thing at the wrong time, and things would go downhill from there. His daughter's body was warm, and frankly he was glad she seemed to be a good girl. Shy, but a good girl. Kit came with them, and he saw the tears in her eyes. They welled up in his as well, only escaping while he blinked. It was strange, he had forgotten how much he had missed Kit until now. It was gratifying, and filling almost to actually meet her again.

"I've missed you a lot," he exlamied, wiping his eyes quickly after breaking off the hug after a bit. He smilied again, going somewhat back to how he was, still somewhat anxious of how to appear in front of Inari. He felt better about the day, as if the sky was open and blue and without a bad thing for miles around. "So what was that about a dragon or something?"

[Reiko]

Inari was nervous, this was the first time she ever seen her father and Kit didn’t talk about him much except when she was a child though the three tailed ronin said good things about him and they felt true but Inari just couldn’t find the words to say.

Kit was happy with the reunion and Inari seeing her father and she was also glad that he didn’t change much and even happier that he seemed interested in her adventure. To the Kitsune mother, the romance would be sweeter if she waited until after the adventure. Kadenzaa was sure he would help, nothing like saving a town to make a family feel close. “Yeah, I wanted to enjoy the warm beech but the dragon sorta ruined it. And since he’s being a nuisance someone has to get rid of him.”

Inari hugged Leon even closer as she listened to her mother’s words, she agreed that the dragon was a problem but it didn’t seem like it deserved to be killed, something made her wonder why the dragon would make it cold and it didn’t seem like such a bad offense. “Can’t we just chase him off?” Inari asked her mother, hoping the older vixen would see her reason. “Don’t you think we can just do that, Daddy?” The little one tail asked her father.

Kit smiled. “Well if we can chase him away then we’ll try though I don’t want the lizard hunting us down.” The three tails compromised though she didn’t mention her want for the dragon’s treasure. There had to be some good stuff in it. “Think you want to come, Love?” Kit asked the catboy as she twitched her tails excitedly.

[Artifex Felicis]

"Ice and dragons, not the funnest things to deal with," Leon said aloud, arms wrapped protectivly around the two girls. They must have looked rather strange there, the three of them simply standing close and talking. Leon honestly couldn't have cared any less right then about what the others thought. Inari he felt something for, and Kit herself he was reletivly sure he loved. At the very least, she never truly left her thoughts, and usually popped up in quite a few dreams. "Last time something like that happened the dragon just wanted to take a nap."

He looked down at Inari, or his daughter as he should now probably be calling her. The words seemed so foreign in his mouth and his mind. It was hard to imagine, even more so to feel. Still, it was welcome, and some deep part of him told him that it was right. "Maybe, it depends on the dragon. A feral one that'll just hurt everyone would need to be put down, but I wouldn't be surprised if we could try to reason with it. Course, Mom's right, we may need to kill it."

He chuckled, the very thought of calling the three tailed kitsune "mom" was also very odd to the cat boy. Still, it was even more fun to say, strangness or not. He pried himself gently from the hug, gesturing towards on of the empty tables for the three to sit at. He moved quickly, the pins and needles from the cold going away still affecting his poor feet. Not that he cared anymore, he had a lot more to look forward to than simply returning home now.

"Come on, let's talk. I think we have some thing to catch up on. For instance, how Inari's nearly as old as you when we first met."

[Reiko]

Inari missed the touch of both her parent hugging her at the same time. It was warm and soft and she could almost feel her parents’ happiness but it couldn’t last forever and there was some catching up to do with the discussion though the subject of her looking almost as mature as her own mother made Inari giggle.

Kit heard that and smiled, though she would jump in and tell the story, mostly because there was the part of her finding another lover in the hidden mage tower. The vixen mother wasn’t sure what her daughter knew but she didn’t want to take any chances. Kadenzaa wanted to get to know Leon a bit better before she could give that secret away. He was cat boy that she had made love too but she just wanted to be sure he wouldn’t get jealous or anything like that.

“Well Inari grew up in a magic fox den that when I went to a friend to help me mother her then once Inari was old enough I took her adventuring.” Kit blushed and paused hoping she wasn’t sounding too nervous but Inari jumped in and continued the story.

“Yeah, Mommy took me to this wizards tower with some really strong golems. I found a really powerful spell book and read out a spell. It killed the golems and I grew up to what I am now and even turned Ziggy into a fox.” Inari was beaming with pride, she knew it was the truth and that she had used magic that was meant for a master of sorcery, not many girls could attest to that.

Kit swished her tails as she tried to stay calm; she nodded in agreement and was glad that her and Ziggy’s lovemaking never caught Inari’s attention. Hopefully Leon would get that idea from Inari’s mention of Ziggy.

“So anything up with you, I think we should get some rest before we attack the dragon, there will be plenty of time after that.” Kit said with a smile as she tussled her daughter’s hair.