#kitsucub

[asheewrites]

02 - Squeak - KitsuCub

At least the house had gotten… bearable.

There was proper food serving every day and the big human had not touched me anymore. Awful creature.

There were a few properly scenic views with a nice, sunny space to enjoy them.

Attention was properly dispersed and Mazin actually gave me the lessons he owed me.

All in all, it was not terrible anymore.

The company I’d found in the city was… almost pleasant. Versed in the ways of clothing and trends and tailoring… it was not… terrible…

Complaints… could be kept to a minimum.

It really was not the worst place to st-

“SQUEAK!”

I scrambled to my feet, trying to run from the pressure on my tail. It gabbed and pulled and-

I growled at the tiny human, hair raised and hackles raised.

It let go then, trying to shush me with cooing noises.

… sometimes it was… not the best place to stay.

[asheewrites]

Kitsucub - Tailormade Shenanigans

Adramelech was about to finish the fine stitching on his latest order, when the door opened with the usual ring.

He was about to get up when the entering person already spoke: “Greetings and salutations, young master of your craft! I’ve heard of your talents from an acquaintance of mine. I come to request the use of the very same. I hope there is an opening in the schedule for this humble customer?”

Looking up, the customer was… a lot of things. Humble was not exactly the first that came to mind. He certainly talked a lot.

“Good afternoon to you, then. How may I help you?” He could certainly say that his help was needed. The cut of these clothes approximately resembled a potato sack. Even the pants did. It was almost a feat. How could one even do that when everything was made of fur?

“Well, dear master tailor, as you can see, I am hardly dressed for the life in town. The mountains are not fashionable. So, since I’ll stay a while, I hoped to freshen up my wardrobe” the man speaking twirled his chin beard. “I brought some fabrics. You can use them if you’d like. I need something… nice. To walk in town without feeling more out of place than my skin already assures I do.”  

Adra’s eyes flickered up to his face. True. He was less pale than the people in town. Not nearly as dark as he was himself, but it was visible. Hm. “I will have to sample the fabrics, then”

“But of course!” The man led him outside to a carriage. Admittedly, Adra had not expected much. Furs, properly. The man was clad in them, after all. A few linens. What he got was… exceptional.

This selection was worthy of the capital. Soft, fine fabrics, strong colours, near perfect quality. It was a marvel to see. Blinking a few times, he nodded: “I can… make a decent wardrobe of this. If you’d like” After a quick look to the other’s feet, he added: “And recommend a saddler”

“Fine, fine, I’ll leave these here, then. I’ll be back for the measurements in the evening, if it works for you, you seemed busy when I arrived.” With those words, he rolled the fabrics up and hefted them on his shoulders, looking at the tailor. “Where may I put them?”

“On the counter. And I… believe it can be arranged”

With a nod, the stranger spread the package on the counter. And then walked off with a smile and a tune, the carriage horses trotting after him.

Adramelech was not sure what just happened.

[asheespiquantpeculiarities]

Kitsucub - Complaints

I walked in circles, walked up and down the porch. My tail was bristling. My ears were twitching. It was a disgrace! A complete and utter disregard for anything even resembling honour as a Kitsune. I could not believe it! It was the middle of the night - at least that! The little human would not notice the horrifying act, it should not know about such things! Even the spirits around me recognised me at this moment, obviously admitting to my righteous fury. 

I growled when the terrible noises finally stopped. And there were footsteps. Footsteps! He DARED showing himself outside. There he was! Stretching himself! Wearing pants! On this weird human form! My fur was standing, my whiskers bristling, I hissed at him: "How CAN you DO that!" and I let my aura flare a little bit. He was... blinking down at me. Like he almost didn't notice me. Then he chuckled: "Well, I'm sorry your instincts are that badly developed, but it's actually fairly ea-" "You sleep with a human!" I hissed, interrupting him. "Mmmhmh, it's a wonderful experience~," he leaned against the railing. I raised my heckles at that, speechless for a second: "She is a human! A HUMAN! They are disgusting! They are the absolute worst! Our enemy!" "Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer, mh?" "This is disgusting! It's unnatural!" "Aw, look at the cub barking... nature seems to have accepted it..." He still sounded as calm as could be. And now, I noticed the lack of response from the spirits, they were attuned to... to HIM again. I bristled some more: "... because you are old!" "Mmmhmh... sure. But now excuse me... I have to snuggle up to Gabrielle - a human - again, have a nice stay out in the cold," he closedthe door behind him. And WARDED it. This awful, AWFUL creature!

[asheewrites]

KitsuCub 6

I was worried for the little fox. He was young and not used to the area. I had not exactly talked to him yet, but he was young and in need of guidance. And he definitely did not deserve to be scared like this. It had been heartbreaking to hear it scream. And then... Gabrielle opened the door. Matia ran in immediately and looked around, being hugged by her mother and calmed down. She told her that she knew that some animals didn't like being bathed. She was worried about the little fox, too.

After the hug, she looked around everywhere - and also did follow the water-drippings, but... didn't find him. There were a few pats on her head, then they walked out, slightly worried. "At least it won't have fleas anymore. You know how bad these are, right?" "Mmmmmhmh, the bites Hurt!," the little one says. "But you didn't like the washing either, did you?" "Noooooo..." "See? We all needed some rest after that..." "... true," and she was led outside.

Which left me in the room. It still smelled of the disgusting flea-bath I had to go through as well. Admittedly, I had gotten a fair warning before and would say I got through it with a lot more grace. When I followed the dribbling water under the closet, I... saw the fox. Plain as day. Then I blinked and he was gone. Another blink and I saw him again. Ah. Illusions. Mazin did that, too. Sometimes. He wasnted to be left alone, apparently. But he looked... miserable. And cold, shivering all over. I could only see his back, but he looked miserable.

So I jumped on the tub, balanced myself along the rim - it was harder than a few weeks ago - and then jumped on the shelf, scrambling and pulling myself up. Huuuh. Up there, I found a towel. A flufy thing, really. Looked like it was supposed to have been used for his fur, but... wasn't, since he fled. Remembering what Mazin taugh me, I drew a symbol on the towel. And patted it with conviction. Three times. I felt a little weaker, afterwards. But was glad that it did, indeed, heat up. To a nice, toasty level. Feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment, I jumped to the floor, towel dragged with me... and shoved it under the closet, until it was at the foxes side. Then I tappled away enough to barely still see him. After a little while, the bundle moved. The towel was unravelled. The heap that had once been a fox moved. And a bigger, combined heap formed. Then it settled down again. ... with a nod, I went back into the living room. Matia still looked a little worried. But when I jumped on her lap, she perked up!

[asheewrites]

KitsuCub 5

When I came to, I was rolled up in a ball. It was perfectly silent. The ground was firm. Spirits were merely passing me without hostility. The earth itself welcomed me. I was at peace. And stretched myself out, languidly. With a wide and hearty yawn, I pushed my front paws ever forward until the bottom of my snout. Life was fine. 

After the stretching sensation had vanished, I slowly shuffled back and opened my eyes to-

"Finally awake, are we?!,"  said the big human, that grabbed me at my scruff again!! Curling my tail, I hissed at it, hissed and showed my teeth. "Stop doing that, puppy," it pointed a finger at me while carrying me around. It carried me around!! "It's bad enough I even consider you near the house!" When I hissed again, it hit my nose! It hit me!! "You almost deserve what is coming for you now" And then it got to my nose. The smell. Biting, sour and strange. It was abhorrent. It was god-awful and... and... I got closer. I got closer to it. No. Nonononononono. No. Now I struggled in the grip this vile human had on me, threw myself from left to right and balled up, barked, moved as much as I possibly could while she brought me closer to what surely was a death sentence. The pain on my neck only grew stronger. No. NO. NO! Then the grip was gone. And I fell. Into the hell-soup. My claws didn't find purchase, there was some metallic nonsense, the bone-chilling feeling of the claws scratching over metal almost worse than the smell. It was blinding, my eyes watered, my head spun, my empty stomach turned. And I was gripped again, at my back, and tried to snap at the hand, but got the vile liquid in my mouth and gagged. There were hands on me, but I couldn't do anything but try to flee, try to get away, but whenever I got away, the hands buried back in my fur, pulling me back and continued to scrub. I couldn't see. Couldn't hear, there was stuff in my ears, they were ringing and the taste was so sour I could gag. This continued. It continued and only grew more painful with every pull at my fur, every time the stuff got in my eyes. With my stomach revolting, I wailed all the time. And then- It was over. The watery hell was over. Now the spiky hell began. Half-stunned as I was, the awful human brought a comb. And wrecked my coat with it! Just yanked and dragged and pulled without any regard for my fur. I whined. I whined as loud as I could, calling for help, for anything, this was not right. My legs were shivering, my eyes stung, my voice sounded pleading, even to my ears. It didn't end. And my whole skin grew numb. I yowled and tried for an exit, but the only thing that got me was cold water splashed over me again and again. And then the awful being finally let up for a moment... and I ran. Ran away, as fast as I could, my eyes not really seeing. And went to the dark. Went into the dark and pressed myself against a solid wall. Silent. I ignored the steps a little away. Ignored it and blended with the dark place. There were shivers. And wetness. This was terrible.

[asheewrites]

KitsuCub 4

This fox made nothing but trouble... I sighed, poking the rabbit without much appetite. ... maybe sometimes a little less trouble. At least he brought rabbits. Honestly, a scary amount of rabbits... we were rarely without meat. The question where they came from wasn't that important when I had meat on the table every single day, though. But it justified the lack of appetite. A little. ... the fluffy fur was not too bad, either. He was very soft and warm. And the weird rumbling he did - a little like a cat - helped once a month. And Matia really liked him, almost as much as the raccoon that also had taken refuge. ...

Maybe the wild animal basically living under their roof was not that bad. But it apparently had a friend. And this friend seemed less... civilised? It wasn't great. Besides: Too many pets can't be good. Speaking of the devil. Our resident grey fox had come inside, sat down at the door, tail wrapped around him, and stared at me. And I knew it would stay like this. Because Matia had a hungry raccoon on her lap, giggling while she fed it vegetables, so she would not distract the fox, and I was done eating, so... It sat there... and stared. When I stared back, the tail started wagging. He re-wrapped his tail when I looked back at my food. This repeated itself. ... It was a little unsettling. "What do you want, fluffles...?" "Oh?," Matia looked over, waving, "Hiiiiii Mazin!" But that was that, little Coony was more interesting.

And the fox continued to stare. I huffed. And after maybe five more minutes of this, I threw my hands up: "Fine! ... what do you want, you... wonderful animal?!" At that, he got up and turned in the direction of the door. And that... once again made me feel a little weird, but hey, foxes are supposed to be smart animals, right? It was probably normal. With a sigh, I stood up: "Don't overfeed the little guy, okay?" "Okay, Mummy!," she said, petting the raccoon. And I... followed the fox into the backyard. He walked a little bit in the forest... and then sat down on a tree stump, tail wrapped again. And he looked down on the floor. When I followed the line of sight... there was a red, small-ish fox on the ground. Sleeping. I stood and stared: "... do you want me to... bring it back home?" Which happened to result in tailwagging. "It's probably full of fleas," he huffed. Aaaand he looked at me with pleading eyes. "... well fine. But you better behave the next weeks" I grabbed the - actually kind of dirty - fox at his scruff and held him. It seemed to be tuckered out. "You know you're going to have to give up your bed then" Because he's going to sleep... mostly in mine, darn it. I sighed. And followed my original fox back home. What a life. Ugh.

[asheewrites]

Kitsu-Cub 3

After he laid down. He licked the side of my face. The side. As if everything else wasn't bad enough yet. It was disgusting, and... and! I raised my heckles and actually growled at him, hair standing on end. 'You are very, very easy to agitate. Is that by any chance the reason for your exile?' I snapped at him, teeth closing around- nothing. The image dissipated.

This... this arrogant old one huffed! Apparently amused! And waited. Looking at me. After a time that... got embarrassing for both of us, I stepped away a little and laid down again, a little out of reach. 'Aaaah, corrective and preventive action, at least you got a good head on your shoulder,' I heard. In my head. And then he inclined his, continuing: 'So, except for attacking me, what exactly do you want, lil' cub?' ... I... oh. Oh. Right. ... I had. I had forgotten about that. 'I... need... a place to rest and recover. It has been a long journey,' because it had been. '... and you went on that journey because you are... not exiled, yes?,' he thought at me, rolling in the grass. He was... rolling in the grass. Like... like a normal fox. I stood on my front paws at that. And swivelled my tail: 'A journey is... recommended. To widen your horizons' 'Yeah, to find a master to teach you, properly,' he said. 'Exactly,' I agreed. It was proper procedure. 'And that's why you got to a land where - reasonably - no Kitsune's should exist' My tail twitched at the fox who chewed a spade of grass. With apparent enjoyment. And hissed: 'Your point?!' 'There is no shame in being exiled, cubby. I mean, some....', he told me while still chewing on the bloody plant. I growled again. It just started. 'Your buttons are remarkably easy to push, tiny" I didn't stop growling. '... I can't even begin to describe how unbelievably delighted and overjoyed I'd be to kepp you as my pupil, you little disaster of Kitsune-kind' That was the moment where any and all spiritual barriers that kept me from accessing the well within the land broke and I felt - for the first time in months - safe. 'Tha-thank you, I-' He licked over my whole face. And walked past me. When my teeth closed around the after image of his tail this time, I gave chase. Barking, I ran after his fleeing form. How DARE HE!!!

[asheewrites]

Kitsu-Cub 2

The child stayed. It stayed and looked while I was... bathed. Bathed! Like a cub! I was not a cub. Hadn't been a cub for a hundred years. This was undignified and wrong. And when his raspy tongue finally stopped flattening my fur, the humans... had multiplied. And I was immediately on my feet, hissing at the second intruder, fur standing up and growing bigger. She was taller and... most likely the mother of the first child. And she was actually loud. She was very loud, how did I miss her? It was an embarrassment. And she was just as unthreatened as the daughter was and it was frustrating, so I leashed o- I tried to leash out. Aura was still suffocating any foreign magic. Nothing happened. I yelped when he knocked me over with his head. And started licking me. Again. Just... knocked me over and flattened my belly fur. I felt miserable.

And mothered. And then... the bigger human came and simply... took him away. She walked over and grabbed his belly and lifted him off. Just like that. And held him in front of her face. "Be nice to him. You are distressing him," and actually put a finger on his nose. The fox looked ashamed. He looked bloody ashamed. Not that he let up any spiritual pressure, I was still firmly fixed to the floor, but... she could hold him. Like that. And didn't the slightest bit of backlash. "Now behave," she said. And put him down again. And he sat down next to me, tail curled around his feet, looking for all the world apologetic. I just laid there, without much chance to move. Until the small one came for me. She came closer and reached her hands out for me and I closed my eyes and- "Maziiiiin...!," a whiney voice said. When I looked again, the hands of this... handsy little human were on Mazin. Going through his fur. And flattening his ears to his skull. And actually pulling at his hair and... that couldn't feel good. And yet there he was, letting it happen. It already looked painful. But going around her legs actually made her forget about me, and while I still couldn't move all too well, he had let up... and now he distracted the tiny human. That was... alright. Maybe he... was... going to help me. That would be good. Very good, even. ... even if he apparently liked to interact with humans. This would be a problem. When the bigger human stepped in between me and the tinier one, I went into defensive position and growled. "... you're new here, aren't you?," the big one frowned at me, hands in her sides. "But Mazin adopted you already, didn't he?," she went down to crouch, but didn't reach out her hand, so... so I accepted for now. She... didn't make any noises. Unlike the other one. Which made a lot. And I flattened my ears, looking over to that one. It apparently 'played' with 'Mazin'. "You will be lots of trouble, won't you?," she said in a low voice, then huffed, "As long as you don't bite anyone, you can stay. But take care, alright?" I hissed at her. My fur rose again. But... fine, I could accept her instinct to wish to protect her offspring. I could.

Now it was only time to look what... apparently Mazin... was doing with the child. Not much. They were... trying to catch each other? And running away sometimes? It sometimes even grabbed his tail with its grubby hands. It was unsightly. And undignified. And, most of all, very very silly, he was for a fact a lot faster than that child. There was no question who would catch whom, but he still... lost a lot. And rolled over the floor. And got his belly rubbed. It was really, really strange to see that. And the child also... laughed a lot. Which was loud and more than unpleasant. Unpleasant enough to flatten my ears again and press myself to the floor, protecting my poor ears. It was a little torturous, but I kept laying there. All the while. A long while. Until the child apparently was too exhausted... or maybe she saw the raccoon that trotted out of the house. She certainly did run towards him.

And then... the old Kitsune came to me. "I see you are not yet able to withstand such a simple disturbance," he said, licking his fur. "And why would I want to," I hissed back. And he laid down next to me.