Nine Tailed Fox

Ahri does succeed in getting Neeko to crack a smile at that little joke. A small one, but a smile, nonetheless.  “Even if they weren’t corrupt, we wouldn’t be able to help that one, would we?”  They kicked and screamed plenty prior to their corruption, after all.  Being able to scream with Rakan is one of the things that she misses about him…

Neeko dutifully follows behind Ahri, more less ready herself, especially if she doesn’t need her wallet.  She is much more spontaneous than Ahri in that way, not needing to agonize over her outfit, usually picking one thing for the day and leaving it at that.  However, it does occur to her that neither one of them has established where they’re going yet.

“Have any new places opened up since Neeko has… been away?” she asks. She truly doesn’t know how long it’s been or how much the city has changed in her absence.  “Or are we going to go to one of the usual ones?”

Ahri nods, ears perked forward. “Lots of new places opened up, some of the old ones closed but everyone's favorite stuck around-” She rolls her eyes playfully. “As well as everyone's least favorite place. Can you believe it got worse?”  

She looks towards Neeko. “Do you want to try something new or something old?” the simplest way to find out, if Neeko doesn’t answer Ahri has little trouble picking. She does want to give her the chance to pick though. 

“Lots of places,” Neeko responds easily.  She has no problem being open and honest about her travels because she truly has nothing to hide, and whether or not Ahri believes her is really up to Ahri.  “Not so much cities, they don’t seem to like Neeko much.”  Which is a shame because Neeko really likes them, as brimming with life as they are.  “Lots of jungles and forests like this one, but not.  Little islands.  Neeko can fly, so it’s easy to go all over.”

At the other’s request to watch the bugs, Neeko comes closer, squatting next to the fox with her hands on her knees.  The little ants are perhaps cute in their own way, but the chameleon has other things on her mind.

She looks to Ahri, not really at all interested in the way the ants intend to devour the beetle.  “What is wrong with humans touching this place?” she asks.  “Why do they have to be kept away?”  She likes humans just as well as vastaya, wanting to include both in her tribe, and she truly does not understand the insistence on separating the two.

Neeko has been to so many places. It sounds fun. “Do you change into things with wings then?” Neeko had taken Ahri’s features, its not much of a stretch to believe she can take on others too. Birds maybe? Or do they have to be humanoid? So interesting.

“The forest will eat them.” Or she will, if they wander too deeply into her den and at this point all the forest has become her den. “And if the forest does not eat them, they will try to claim it as theirs and take it apart.”

“Neeko hopes… that we will not have to drag them back and that they will not kick and scream,” she says, fidgeting a bit nervously.  There must be some way to undo the corruption.  After all, it had almost gotten Neeko, but it dissipated when Ahri arrived to save her.  Of course, the process had just been starting for her.  Perhaps, Rakan and Xayah were already too far gone to be helped.

No, she is not going to believe that.  She can’t. She steels herself and stands up a little straighter, although she is unable to quite match Ahri in intensity.  That is a high bar to achieve.  “They’re our friends, so they have to remember us.”

The distraction, the abrupt change in topic, is perhaps a little blatant, but Neeko welcomes it, not being the sort who cares to dwell on the sad things.  “Depends on how good is good,” she answers.  “Neeko has eaten… don’t know how good.”  Probably better than Ahri, at the very least.

“Alright, Xayah will kick, Rakan will scream.” More in line with their personalities, but she has to agree with Neeko. She doesn’t want to have to drag them back, she will if she has to but there has to be some way to remove the corruption. Ahri will take it into herself if she has to.

“If they don’t we’ll remind them.” Ahri offers a smile, one that she hopes offers comfort.

“Delicious, I would settle for nothing less. Come on, I’ll buy!” She already has everything she needs for a trip out to get food, and no matter that she wants to dress to the nines for it theres- Really not much of a point. Her outfit is already cute, it matches-

Ahri does not believe Neeko.  Although, perhaps that in itself is a trap, pretending not to believe, making Neeko prove herself, leading her farther and farther down a certain path.  What path, she doesn’t know.

Suspicions between them still run high, and it is clear that dipping into the other’s sho’ma to convey her peaceful intentions is not going to work.  As such, she pulls away from it, reverting back to her original form.

“Neeko is exploring,” she answers with a casual shrug.  It really is that simple; if the other still chooses not to believe her, there is not much that can be done about it.  “With no tribe and no home, I go all over the place now.”

Ordinarily, mentioning the destruction of her home makes her very sad, so she is quick to change the topic back to something more positive.  Well, more neutral, really, but at least less negative.  “The magic here is good, makes Neeko feel strong, so I want to stay a little while, more than the other places.  You know the energy this place has, right?  Better than anyone, Neeko thinks.”

Exploring? Yes she can understand that, seeing new places. She isn’t sure of it’s truth, of her intent. The feel of her essence does not change but that doesn’t mean it’s the truth. “What kind of places have you been?” Her ear flicks as a wandering bug attempts to land upon it. No tribe. No home. How sad.

Of course she knows the energy of this place, the magic of it. It thrums in every inch of this forest. Every breath of wind, every leaf, and vine . This forest is alive and it is hers, her home, her den, her sanctuary. Even before she remembered this place was hers. 

“It is a place untouched by humans. Their fear drives them away.” She does as well she thinks, drive away the humans. Especially now.

Oh, the gem…  The symbol of her place among the Star Guardians, damaged but still shining and beautiful.  It is strange; when she was trapped in the other realm, she hadn’t missed it.  It seemed insignificant in the grander scheme of things, after the scattering and corruption of her team.  But now, holding it in the palm of her hand, it feels heavy, solid, important. She looks from it back up to Ahri, eyes glassy with tears.

“Neeko doesn’t blame you, Ahri.”  She is able to say it with her whole chest, with the utmost sincerity.  Ahri always tries her best in everything she does, and she always solves problems where she is able.  In fact, everyone on the team does their best at all times. Everyone except Neeko…

“Zoe made everything all topsy-turvy and hard to find.”  Neeko had just as hard a time finding a way out as Ahri had finding a way in.  “Even with the best map in the world, she would have messed things up.”  Not even Neeko can tell if that is an attempt at returned humor, with it being spoken completely straight, with the same somber sincerity of everything else.

“Neeko did not make things easy, either,” she confesses, the thing that has been weighing on her since she got stuck, since she watched the others fall.  “If I had not hid, nobody would have had to look for me at all.”  If she had gotten lost forever, she would have had no one to blame for it but herself.

She pauses to swallow the large lump in her throat, her botom lip trembling violently, her hand closing around her gem.  “When we go to get Rakan and Xayah, Neeko will not hide this time.”

It makes her chest ache, the heartfelt words, sincere in every way imaginable. She can’t stop her ears from drooping, folding backwards with her displeasure, all of it aimed at herself. She should have found them earlier before Xayah and Rakan fell. A deep inhale fills her lungs with air, and with it determination. “We’ll find them, together and we’ll drag the both of them back to us kicking and screaming.” 

Ahri looks to Neeko now, gaze burning with intent and beneath that fiery determination, fondness for her friend come back from death it seems. For as fine as the gem looks now- It had been broken, she knows this held its pieces in her hands. The other two, Rakan’s, Xayah’s they still lay hidden in her pocket just as broken as when she found them.

“We’ll get them back.” This promise is carved now, into her very bones, into skin and flesh and time itself. The first star could try and stop her, but the only thing that would keep her from her team is death.

Well, that confirms Neeko’s suspicions that the other likes to be seen as dangerous, the fact that she seems to swell with pride at being called such.  She now seems much more relaxed, more inclined to converse than to hunt.  It is a bit strange because Neeko had not meant it as a compliment, but if the other wants to take it as one, she will not correct.

With the predatory instinct of the sho’ma somewhat mitigated, she allows herself to slip further into it, sprouting the other’s fluffy ears.  They twitch atop her head, soft—she likes them.  A shame she won’t be able to keep them, that she will have to expel this sho’ma eventually, before it is able to devour her.

Tilting her head to the side, she says, “Neeko did not come here seeking anything specific.”  Neeko has always believed in serendipity, that she will find whatever she needs exactly when she needs it.  “Besides, you are not really a ghost, and the forest is not really haunted.  You are a lot more like Neeko than a ghost, still all bones covered with meat.”

Keen golden eyes watch as the strangers image slowly changes, it’s the ears now. Flicking and twitching towards every sound. Such an ability is different, but that same primal part of her snarls in the dark. “So you say.” Ahri knows what lays at her center, and it’s not just organs and blood. It’s a vile hungry thing. She thinks the other might know that, this Neeko.

Her tail flicks and then she returns her gaze towards the ants. Their endless march. “Why are you here?” More plainly this time, the question is asked. It is clearly not to slay her, or less talking would be done. Or perhaps it is, and this one just likes to hear herself talk but- Ahri doubts that. It is not in the nature of her essence, bright and clear like birdsong that it is. 

“If we are haunting them then are they not actually being haunted by angry spirits?” The thought made her smile and Syndra had learned how to garner enjoyment from the gawking fear that she managed to garner from people. “It still sounds amusing enough, did you have any other details in mind or did you simply wish to scare a village of peasants?”

The little fox certainly did not lack ambition, jumping right to village wide mischief for their first escapade. Syndra had said in jest but Ahri seemed to have latched onto it so she figured why not? It would be a welcome break from the relative monotony that she lived from now and that was why she brought her up to her domain in the first place. “And? What kind of prank did you have in mind?

Syndra simply responded, “Definitely.” after all it didn’t require much thought to say that she would enjoy tricking people. Being tricked however… “Not even once. People have only ever approached me with fear or desire in their eyes.” Mischief was not a concept that really existed in her life.

  For a fox demon that fed on souls, memory and life force she could be awfully cute sometimes and she couldn’t help but smile at her answer. “No tricks on me, I’ve never been tricked before and I won’t let you be the first.” Her smile pulled back a little further, wickedness on her lips, “Though tricking others is amusing.”

  That question gave her pause, so simple in it’s intent that Syndra had to ponder it’s meaning to her. “I suppose in a sense I do, all reading garners knowledge and to me knowledge is fun.” She gently licked a finger before turning the page and continuing, “Though the knowledge itself is usually quite practical and dry the simple fact of feeding my curiosity is satisfying.” Another pause, wondering if this is how small talk worked, “And you? What do you do for fun?”

  It seemed like Ahri had something to hide, not that Syndra particularly blamed her - or even cared that much. She had plenty of secrets of her own she was more than happy to keep. “I shall not press the matter. If you decide to eat I am sure we can find suitable quarry, as you said yourself everything else just isn’t enough.” Syndra had no qualms with hunting human like prey, she learned young such was the way of the world.

“I do not need to, not as bad as most do.” First it was because she was poor and they couldn’t afford food, then food became an earthly pleasure required only for sustenance and now that shes finally free to enjoy it  - well she was past the point of desiring it. “If I truly begin to fade I can take from the surrounding area as you take from living things.” It wasn’t a cure all but it was a neat trick that kept her going.

  “Though… Is there a reason you do not want to eat?”

 “That is not an issue, if you’d like we could go get you some proper food now.” Syndra had set course a few weeks back to drift towards a village and they should have been reasonably close, enough that they should easily find a few mortals. “You and I are not that different, but while you eat for sustenance I just…” Some dark energy sprang to life, weaving between her fingers, “Eat for pleasure.”

 “Some things?” She questioned, “I’d like to know what they are both for the sake of mutual trust but also curiosity. Do not worry about my delicate sensibilities I promise you I have seen plenty.” Life, after all, was but a source of power for Syndra. From the perspective of the average person her and Ahri weren’t that different after all. “If I can help sustain you perhaps I shall.”