017

--TheirWorld--

Guin’s mouth went dry as she read the screen a few times. She looked up at the Amikavi in shock and awe, then back at the screen:

[Class Offered: Tatterskin]

The Tatterskin walks the boundaries between what is real, and what is not. They are great shape-shifters, borrowing power from the tales they collect to protect the mysteries of the world by being one of the greatest mysteries the world has to offer. Powerless, and powerful, so lives the Tatterskin. >>

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A hidden class… Guin bit her lip. It was a secret class that she wouldn’t be able to change even if she wanted to. There was no real indication as to what type of class it was, either.

“W-What kind of powers does a Tatterskin have?” Guin asked, but the fox spirit simply smiled. Taking a deep breath, Guin nodded and hit the [Accept] button.

Please be advised that upon logging out after using shape-shifted forms without shifting back into your base form can cause disorientation, and other side effects such as nausea, fatigue, headaches, disorientation, and spatial impairment.

As a reminder, those who are pregnant or may be pregnant should not play TheirWorld.

It is the player’s responsibility to know the dangers of TheirWorld as put forth by Varier Co. and the associated governments (See Appendix 1), and the entities involved waive all responsibility for medical or physical damages in lieu of the players agreement to the Terms and Conditions as set by Varier Co. and the associated governments.

For any further questions or concerns, please contact an in-game GM or Customer Support.>

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Inhaling through her teeth sharply, Guin skimmed over the warning and his the button. She had been using her shape-shifting ability [Fox Form] since she started playing the game.

Several new things appeared in front of her all at once, but she moved them to the side of the screen as she looked up at Amikavi, grinning down at her.

“Well done,” the fox spirit said. “Tatterskin you are now, and shall always be — but what is a Tattersking without a skin? Yours has been lost to the flipping of realities, it seems, so perhaps first we must remedy that…”

Slightly confused at Amikavi’s words, Guin tilted her head as she watched the fox spirit turn back to the skin behind her and tug it off the wall with her teeth. In mild shock, Guin went to protest, but with a fluid motion, the fox spirit through it into the air, and let the skin land lightly upon Guin’s shoulders; the head becoming the hood of a cloak just as the one she had received from Relli and Tik-tak. It shrank a bit, as it hugged her body, the paws falling down her front, to the tips of her breasts as she turned to see the nine tails turn to one.

“Rise now, Tatterskin, for your journey is just beginning. It is time, now, to earn your tails.”

Gripping her new cloak around herself tightly, she could already tell it was a more powerful item than the one she had had before. But…

“M-My Lady,” Guin went. “I very much thank you for such a precious thing but… What of the one that was left to me by tik-Tak and relli? Is it gone now, forever?”

Amikavi shook her head with a slight smile. “It is, and yet it is not,” she said. “That cloak was made not only of skin and fur, but of how that mother and son felt for you. Their feelings have now become part of your power; they are in your ears, your eyes, your claws — but their skins have now returned to them, you see. This world is not as simple as you might think — and you might have yet have a chance to save that which has been lost to you.”

Guin’s eyes went wide. “You mean… Tik-tak… Tik-tak might still be alive?”

“I know not for sure,” the fox spirit shook her head. “Even before my death, I knew White Fox Forest had begun corrupted beyond what any of us could have cured without the help of outside forces. It is possible that he lives. It is possible, but he will not be the fox you remember him to be — and if you seek to fight against the corruption, if you seek to save those souls corrupted by their sorrow, you shall need far more power than you have now.”

“How do I gain that power? By training as a Tatterskin?”

“Training, yes,” Amikavi said. “But even more, it is not a task that you accomplish alone.

The Tatterskin is not a class of one, but of many — and there are many kinds of Tatterskins in the world, each using the blood of the Veil they possess to unite their kin, granting them strength, power, and wisdom. You are of the blood of the Fox Spirits. One tail you have, but nine you need before you can truly reach your potential.”

Guin toyed with the paws of her new cloak. “How do I go about gaining these tails?”

The fox spirit grinned, “In short, you must find them, and convince them of your worthiness.”

“Convince… tails?” Guin furrowed her brow.

An amused chuckle accompanied a flash of green came from beside her. “Oh half-Che, how much you have to learn,” Liorax’s voice told her — or was it? She looked over, expecting to see the floating blue-grey cat beside her with his orb-like emerald eyes glimmering, but she leaned back in shock as she looked at the creature floating in the air. It was no fox. Rather, it was fox who floated in the air, with eyes the color of grass in the summer sun glinting at her with a peculiar cleverness. His two tails were flipped up as he put a paw to his chin, musing, “Why yes, what a pleasing reaction. Yes, “ he went on, waving his paw in the air. “Your eyes can now see past my simple trickery — and I’m sure that you will find that there are other things they’ll see now too. Truths and lies run rampant in this world.”

“L-Liorax? You were a fox spirit?” Guin asked.

“Of a different bloodline, of course,” he bowed.

“This fool comes from the Darklands, in the territory of the Rose clan,” Amikavi said with a great amount of distaste. Liorax just smirked and shrugged as she continued, “He was one of many of the wards I kept in the forest. One of particularly troublesome parentage…”

“I do like to think that I have made myself useful to you, my Lady,” he half bowed. “But, as it stands, I am no longer a flea in your fur. I now own the half-Che, as she owns me — and, should she desire it — my tail. My tail, and my tale, that is.” Liorax the fox stared at her expectantly.

Guin simply started back, tilting her head, “What?” she asked.

Liorax cleared his throat. “My tail,” he pawed at her. “It’s yours.” She looked around, and he sighed and pointed. “In your bag. I gave it to you when you graduated from the tutorial.”

“What?” she mumbled, then clapped her hands. “Oh! You mean literally!”

“Yes, literally, silly half-Che,” he grumbled. “You owe me milk.”

“Now?”

“No, not now! Tail now! Then milk!”

Guin stared at him again. “Do foxes like milk?”

“The Tail!” he shouted, circling her. “My, my, embarrassing us both in front of the Lady… How shameful…”

“Yet not entirely unexpected,” Amikavi mused.

“Well, you didn’t need to be so cryptic…,” Guin grumbled as she went through and pulled Liorax’s pelt out of her bag. Indeed, Liorax’s pelt had also turned into that of a fox, black and white in coloring. “So, what do I do with this?”

Liorax grinned at her, his same old cheshire-cat style grin, and said, “Wear it, of course.”