We all sat in silence around the hearth, Fauna bundled up in my own futon with blankets and pillows abound, Gaelan refused to leave her side. It was rather cute, seeing him treat her like a rain-soaked kitten.

Freya was staring dejectedly into the fire. "He saw our ears."

Moto looked up from his stew and glanced at me with a worried expression, "that is no excuse, Freya."

She sighed as if it were from the depths of her toes. "For some, it is Master Moto. He had reached for me, but Fauna got in front and grabbed his arm...I guess he also saw our collars."

I swore an awful swear word from my homeland.

"He asked us where our seller was. Fauna-- she spoke up for the first time..." Freya's voice choked slightly, "I've never heard her not stutter before." Covering her face with her hands, she trembled slightly. "Fauna said, 'my master is inside, and she will not tolerate this, go away.'...and I just stood there like a frightened child!"

I felt my expression fall into one of compassion, "Freya, he was ten times your size; of course, you'd be frightened!"

"If you hadn't come," she started.

"But I did," I assured her. "Come, drink your tea; Gaelan is seeing to her and even has been using healing magic." In fact, the Sentinal had been at it for several hours, enveloping her in a warm green glow that stole pain and gave comfort even in his sleep.

Freya nodded, "I think I'll turn in for the night Lady Taka."

Once she left and heard the door slide shut, I exhaled sharply and put my head on my knee.

Moto glanced at me, "so that was quite the show of temper...not that I blame you."

I glared at him, "and what would you have had me do?" He had no answer except to sip his tea.

"Oh, believe me, little vixen, had it just been us, I would have shredded his body to bits." A mutter at the end, "some things never change, I suppose..."

"I was terrified," I said matter of fact. "In my old life, I would have never..."

"Fought back?"

Nodding, I exhaled, trying to regain some composure. "I don't know what I would have done to that man if you hadn't stopped me but now that it's done, and over I feel so..."

"Worn out?" He understood. "You know..." he mulled over what he was about to say, given my drowsy state. "You would be quite the fearsome partner, little vixen."

I sighed, exhausted, and nearly falling asleep sitting up "hm? Like a partner in crime? Oh! my god, I could get away with so much with illusion magic. Can you t-teach me?"

With a laugh, Moto stood and leaned over, placing a hand on my forehead. "Sleep Taka, sleep..." with a poof, I had transformed into my fox state, a small fluffy creature barely able to move let alone sit up; scooping me up, he carried me off where he placed me on a large pillow near his futon and covered me with a blanket. "But it's too bad for everyone else..." I could hardly hear him as he leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead before rubbing his nose into my fur in a fox gesture of affection. "I think they already lost; since I've decided to win you as my own."

Despite my dream, I muttered in annoyance, [[n-not...ready...]]

His response was warm and dripping like honey from a hive into my dreams. "You take all the time you need; we have forever after all. Sleep tight, little vixen."

I chattered to him something incoherent in fox tongue, trying to wedge myself back into the warm hug when he disengaged himself. I was vaguely aware when he shifted to his fox form and, keeping his distance, stretched all nine tails about me like a blanket before we slept in our own pile of paws and fur.

I dreamed of running in fields filled with rice, the goddess Inari looking after me as I followed a bundle of foxes up a hillside to a large tree filled with blossoms.

The scents of magic and wonder-filled my lungs as I breathed profound freedom that I had never known before. I was going to take this and make it something grand, enjoy every moment of every season...I have forever after all. I thought.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning I was confused; someone was blowing on my ear gently and laughing as quiet as could be when it twitched in response. "Takaaaaa." The voice called. "Little fox, the sun is high at noon. Are we sleeping for a century?"

I twitched my nose, realizing it was no longer a muzzle, "hmm, go away." Turning, I buried myself into the bulk of what I thought was a pillow.

"Aweee, someone is extra snuggly in fox form."

I blinked stupidly. "Wah?"

He was grinning at me with pointy teeth, tails swishing merrily behind him. "You sleep like the dead, Taka. You'd be the best napper in the fox clan if you let yourself."

"KYAH!" Launching backward, I tried to still my hammering heartbeat. "Y-y-YOU!"

But instead of angry...I was flustered. My heart slamming against my ribs, and a betrayal of skin tone as pink exploded across my face in a poof of what I'm sure was steam.

Moto simply lounged; he leisurely propped his chin on his hand and was halfway up on one elbow, robe open in what should have been an illegally sinful display of masculinity.

God Taka take a photo it will last longer. I shook the thought from my head as he just kept watching with his eyebrow raised and a teasing grin.

"It wasn't me, you came over here."

I distinctly remembered my tiny fluffed form, half-awake toddling over and flopping on top of what I thought was the fluffiest futon in the world. I covered my face in embarrassment. "I am SO sorry." I said, kowtowing much to his amusement.

"What's a bit of skin-ship between foxes?" Moto shrugged and scratched his scalp with tapered nails luxuriously.

Still, beet red, I hightailed it out of the room with him laughing at my back in unbridled amusement. "How is Fauna?" I asked a confused Freya, who furrowed her delicate eyebrows at my exit from Moto's room.

"She is well, Lady Taka," was the reply, and then a curious expression as she pointedly looks at the door and back and me and raised a brow with a hint of a smile.

"NO," I said firmly.

She looked disappointed, sighing. She went back to her sewing.

With Freya's help, I got ready after taking a long hot bath; sitting in front of the heath to dry, I groaned to myself, "I wish my ears weren't so sensitive, I hate it..."

"Are you telling me you've never enjoyed a good ear rub?" Moto said, looking incredulous.

I sniffed in a delicate feminine snit. "I've brushed my ears, not rubbed them, why would I?" I watched as he stepped around and plopped behind me, "wait, what are you--"

"If you want, I can brush your ears!" He was jovial. Apparently, this was normal for foxes. Skin-ship was a daily for close-quarter fur creatures.

I thought about it and shrugged, starting on my breakfast, which Freya brought out as she grinned at the two of us.

A head pat, I frowned, but it felt very nice. I had never realized that this fox body felt things differently. And a sizable warm hand rubbing the top of my head sent warmth down to my toes as I munched my breakfast.

He was meticulous with brushing my long hair, taking the brush, starting at the ends until all the knots were out, and gently working tapered fingers through tangles. By the time he had got to my tail, I was a pile of fox jello. I recalled I would need to make shampoo and conditioner at some point.

"I-I'll leave your tail to you." He said.

"Huh?" I tilted my head, "but why?"

"It's something more intimate that's only done with close....individuals."

"Aren't we close?"

His face exploded in embarrassment, and he coughed roughly. "Ah, our tails are....ahem...sensitive." He said bluntly.

Blinking, I nodded, "OH. Ah, yes, thank you." I would have a lot to learn about fox behavior and etiquette of the fox clan. I brushed my tail gently and fluffed it before hugging it close once the heat from the fire dried it.

"I don't think I've ever seen a fox so infatuated with her tail," Freya laughed.

"I'm not infatuated-- but come on, if you had fluffy fur attached to you all day, you'd have to pet it eventually!"

Freya chuckled as she looked over her craft, her dainty hands made quick with any stitching that needed to be done, but the hilarity was anything weaving beyond her.

Gaelan soon arrived, Fauna tucked into his arms. He placed her on a pile of pillows in front of the fire. [[But Gaelan, I have to make breakfast!]]

But the Sentinel handed her a tray filled with rice porridge, trout, and fresh-picked berries and tea. Sitting silently with his own helping, he began to eat and nudged her tray closer when she paused. "Eat." He said.

She sighed and followed instructions brightening at how delicious the meal was. *Did Gaelan cook this?* It did taste different from the others cooking; Moto preferred savory dishes, while Fauna and Freya likened to lots of herbs and veggies.

Gaelan seemed to have pulled from natural flavors, only using salt and a few other spices with a gentle hand. I chewed slower as I finished and appreciated the complex richness of what he could bring out.

Once breakfast was cleared, I looked Fauna over from head to foot and had Moto show me how to check her meridians, everything was the way it should be, and she was even her bright, happy self again-- the other day no more than a bad memory.

Or so I thought.

[[Yesterday you were amazing Lady Taka!]] Fauna's spirit voice was pitched in excitement, [[you sent him flying with one kick!]]

"You should have seen what Moto did." I giggled, remembering the sight of him throttling the man within an inch of his life with a gentleman's attitude.

"My Lady," Freya said softly, "we have the lumber and the needed tools; Gaelan and a few men from the village came to help this morning and brought plenty!"

I nodded, excited beyond recognition, "first an ice cellar."

Everyone echoed, "ice cellar?"

"Yes, or a root cellar. It allows us to store food better." I brushed myself off and began to walk outside." I think right here is good. I thought and grabbed a hoe and marked a large rectangle with a square section for stairs to go down into it. In my past life, I had learned about cellars like this. Lined with stone on the inside, the roof made of timber.

Glancing about, I noticed a rather colossal boulder taking up a lot of the space I needed. "Perfect!"

Closing my eyes, I sat down and began to pull on the surrounding resources. First, I pushed the ground inward to make a hole big enough for shelving and flooring that laid out perfectly with the stone I pulled from the massive rock. Lining the stone bricks I made along the sides to make a wall and the steps that would come up from under the ground, I opened my eyes to see it looked pretty good. Moto was sitting next to me, smoking his pipe and tilting his head, "can I help you?" I asked, amused.

"So. This is for roots?"

"Yes and fruits, we can put freezing crystals in here to make it better." I shut my eyes and began to pull from timber to make the roof, but realized...I had no nails.

"Shoot!" My eyes flew open. "Metal...metal...wait..." I looked straight at Freya's collar. "Hold still, you three."

They obeyed but looked at each other cautiously. Closing my eyes, I zeroed in on the collars, magic buffered around them, but seeing knots and spirals, I gently tugged at one end where it unraveled in bursts of harmless color, shaping them into nails and brackets. I set to work on the rest of the cellar.

Once finished, I opened my eyes to see three pairs of gazes boring into me from above, confused and elated at the same time.

"My Lady, you removed them?" Freya whispered.

Blinking, I realized what I had done, "Oh good! Well, that killed two birds with one stone then!"

Fauna looked dejected. "D-does that mean we l-le- hmm...go away?"

I paused, "not unless you wish to." The girls flung their arms about me as we toppled over onto the ground with their tears bursting like geysers. Gaelan, far more stoic, gave me a bow, happy that I had kept my word.

"I believe I shall stay a bit longer." He said, "it is not as if I have anywhere to go to."

Smiling up at him, I nodded, "we would be happy for you to stay, wouldn't we?"

Fauna abruptly jerked up and looked at him, "Y-yYou aren't leaving a-ar-are, you G-Gaelan?"

He stifled the burst of emotion that all but throttled him, it seemed, and coughed into his hand.

"No, I mean unless--"

"No I want you to stay!" She leaped to her feet and clasped his hand to her face in a show of absolute endearment; she was so tiny compared to the warrior Sentinal it was nearly comical. His thumb brushed her cheekbone almost in absentminded tenderness. It was clear he was only staying for her sake. "Won't you? We're like family now. We can't separate so soon!"

I could practically see the thump of cupids arrows slam into his heart, knocking the wind out of him to hear such soft words from such a frightened little half-elf.

We all sat shell shocked at the sweet scene before us, Moto leaning in and whispering, "it seems someone is in love." I shoved him playfully, but we all edged ourselves out of there to leave the two potential love birds to chat.

I sat down in the kitchen and began to ready dinner; Moto had brought in a boar of all things claiming he had been bored.

Bored...so he hunted a wild boar...ugh...kitsune.

He handled the butchering and managed to get a fire pit going in the courtyard, spitting the beast onto a large turner and flaming it with foxfire.

It smelled divine.

Meanwhile, I set to making rice in the donabe pot I had recently made from clay found naturally in the mountainside. After sealing with rice porridge, it worked wonders for maintaining good rice.

Suddenly, Moto was smacking my arm rapidly, "look look look!!!!"

All three of us poked our heads up to the window.

The two love birds were wrapped up and whispering in the courtyard. Gaelan was braiding Fauna's hair for her with tender fingers; in what looked like Sentinal fashion. She was chattering to him uninhibited and relaxed much to all of our wonder and happiness.

Freya laughed, "I knew it, she's been going on about that man since she was here."

I stuttered myself, "I-it's been a week!"

Moto shrugged, "sometimes you just know." He said as if he had some secret to the universe, an expression as he looked at me that I couldn't quite place.

Huffing, I sighed, "well, as long as they are happy."

Dinner was a lively event with all of us teasing the new couple, Fauna, a bright pink through the night as I got to see what being a Sentinal tied to a woman did. It appeared that every facet of her was being monitored to be sure she was cared for. Even when not looking at her, he was aware of every motion and every possible need she required and brought it to her before she even voiced it. She maintained her sweet personality and caring towards him, gaining the occasional gruff embarrassment that made her chime-like laugh fill the air.

Maybe they just know...but it made me curious-- would I know one day?

I tried to think back on my past life; the only love I had ever felt was from my mother, which was different. I hadn't any time through my life to like someone, not the way these two stared at one another-- within my musings, I caught Moto's gaze from across the hearth, he flashed a rogue-like smile at me before turning back to Gaelan to talk about a hunt they would go on to gather pelts for trade.

"We can always dry the meat in jerky." I said, "in fact, we can even make it flavored."

"Flavored?" Again with the collective question.

"Yes, it's delicious. And we can freeze the rest now that we have the freezing crystals underground." The boar steaks were delicious, rubbed in herbs, and seared in a pan with butter to finish it. It melted in a frenzy of wild flavor. Paired with mountain greens, cold sake, and some root vegetables I could not recognize, it made for quite the feast.

Satisfied and replete, we all wandered off to our beds to sleep for the evening and prepare for the festival the next evening.

-------------------------------------------------------

The next morning was a flurry; the bathhouse that I had recently expanded with wood and stone turned out to be perfect. Fauna and Freya floated by me in the vast bath that we created that early morning heating crystals glowing in the bottom of the large commune bath.

"This talent for this magic suits you." Freya said with a sigh of luxury.

"Mmmhhmmmmm." Fauna agreed with her eyes shut.

I sighed, "I feel like a cheater."

"What makes you say that?" Freya asked, "it's not as if you're using it for bad."

Fauna nodded, [[I think Freya has a point, remember My Lady, intent. Mother always said that intent can mean the world.]] Both girls paused; I realized they never spoke of their homeland or mother.

"It's alright if you don't want to say anything," I floated by Fauna with ease, and she smiled at the ceiling.

Freya spoke up, "our mother was human; our father was an elf. He died quite suddenly due to a blight that had swept over our village. When that happened, without his protection..."

"Is your mother alive?"

"Somewhere." They both said.

I felt my throat squeezed tight. If my mother had been alive somewhere, I would want to find her. With determination, I decided to ask Moto what to do about it.

Drying off near the fire we had built for the bathhouse, we chatted aimlessly about the upcoming summer, "I heard in these mountains that there are quite the different species of animals and monsters to collect from." I said.

We were braiding each other's hair out-of-the-way sitting and facing the back of one another in a small circle. It felt almost like having sisters. Their collars off, I could sense the ease of tension from each of them, as well as Gaelan. It filled my heart with happiness to know that I had been able to keep at least part of my promise. Once we were dried off with soft cloths and braided hair pulled up to dry, so we could style it later, we moved ourselves to the residence's main room.

"I saw that you were making kimono?" Freya said, looking at the fabric I had splayed out; the designs I created were actually a modernized version. It was a homongi meant for formal functions; my own fabric had been dyed bright and flourishing spring colors with cherry blossom patterns, the obi flourishing with navy, white, and blossoms to match the gorgeous pink and white tones of the kimono.

Freya was to be dressed in purple. And Fauna the deep green, the trims of gold and cream to offset the primary color, and the obi designed to draw attention to the rest of their patterns. Hair sticks made from wood that I had leftover in the shapes of different animals, and folding fans patterned with artwork for each kimono style.

Once we were ready, I glanced at my close companions, who were busy staring at themselves in amazement. "It feels so beautiful..." Freya whispered, "the silk is...I mean..."

"Silk kimono makes a woman feel like a woman." I whispered, repeating what my mother had once said during a firework festival dressing in her one and only treasure, a silken kimono with cranes and floral stretching across the bottom in flight.

Stepping out of the room, I was startled to see Gaelan and Moto in separate garb; Gaelan had found armor. ((So this is what a Sentinal looks like,)) The chest plate was designed from what looked like mithril and dragon scales, leather hydra hides made up the gauntlets and bracers, boots designed to withstand the snow, sand, and heat.

"I managed to have my armor returned to me," he muttered and clapped Moto on the back. "He made a trip for me."

I blinked at the fox, who adjusted his robe and muttered something incoherent. "I had to be in the area anyway." His hair was pulled high, falling in red waterfalls down his back, some tendrils swaying across his face when he leaned down to adjust my hairpin. "Lovely."

Gaelan wasn't paying much attention to me as he helped Fauna and Freya with their hair and made sure they were put to rights.

"Alright." Moto clapped, "give me your hands, for this one time, we shall port."

I blanched, "wait, you can teleport us?"

He nodded, "I only do it on rare occasions. Come, come, give me your hand." He gathered us all in a circle. With a quick blast of power, we were at the base of the mountain near the gates. "It helps that I have been here quite a few times."

I was then, with no warning, scooped up and held aloft on one arm by Moto, "till we get you a litter."

"I-I don't need one!" I smacked the top of his head gently, "put me down!"

"You will dirty your kimono. It is longer than the girls'." He said practically, and with a snap at the guards, the gate was open. "If you wanted me to carry you all night, all you had to do was say so."

"As if you could. Whoa!" I was lifted a bit higher.

"You weigh nothing." He said plain and simple. But this was rather embarrassing; I had to keep my arms roundabout his shoulders and neck to prevent from falling over as his hand was holding part of my kimono off my dirt-covered zori as we walked.

"M-Moto, people are staring at me!"

Fauna and Freya laughed at the sight with glee and nudged Gaelan, who just shook his head.

"Let them look, it's all they can do either way." I saw his ears flatten back as he gave a glare to several menfolk passing by.

Was that jealousy?

Nah. No way.

Shaking my head free of the ideas swimming through my head, I was spellbound by the lights, lanterns, and stalls that encompassed the entire marketplace and street.

"Welcome to your festival, Messenger!" The villagers who were of kitsune blood bowed to us as we entered. "We welcome the Zenko of the mountain!"

My heart clenched at the welcome, and tears fell from my cheeks onto Moto's shoulder.

"Are you happy, Taka?" He asked, smiling as he nudged my cheek with his forehead in a bump.

"Y-Yes!" I gasped through my tears, "so happy!"