Fox Fire

Aysha, upon reuniting with Sand, gains her bearings in the forests of Airaisal in the best way she knows how: romping around it as a fox. It goes much more slowly than she’d like, what with the very limited time frames she’s allowed to stay transformed. So she normally saves her transformations for areas with lots of roots to crawl under and over. 

It’s as she’s busy climbing over a group of large and gnarled roots that she notices a figure with long white hair. She gives a loud yelp at the sight. Could it be? 

-Poof-

He can hear it, her voice saying just his name. His tail flicks and wings flutter a bit before he turns around to look at her. Its Aysha, unchanged and everything. Almost as if she never left the city at all.

“Aysha…“ Sand can’t decide how he feels, its a mix of being happy to see her again yet hes also sad because he knows there is a chance she could leave again. His tail wiggles more and his wings give a few awkward flutters as he tries to understand how he feels.

In the end he can only think of a few words.

“I’ve… missed you.“

“Sand, I...” there’s so much she wants to say, so much that dies on her tongue. Sand had become so much like family her first stay here. So much that the month she’d spent back in her home world had felt so empty without him there. 

“I...” she tries again, this time it’s harder because there’s tears welling in her eyes and a sob ready to escape. She closes the distance between them, wrapping her arms around Sand and holding him tightly as she cries.

Sand doesn’t understand at first what she means by how she would be able to find him, yet some part of him almost doesn’t want to be found. Sure he missed Aysha greatly but it just reminded him of how nothing will stay forever here.

He doesn’t answer, but he does keep moving slowly though the woods. He feels safe in the deeper trees even if his glow is the strongest there. Even with his walking its not too long before he hears the noise of someone getting closer.

Latn makes a growl-like noise and looks behind to make sure its Aysha, while Sand doesn’t look. Not yet at least, but he will look soon enough. 

Following the feathers is a lot harder than one might think. Considering that they’re absolutely everywhere, all in varying levels of fading glow. Eventually, though, Aysha finds herself noticing the brightest ones, and following them deep into the forest.

Finally, her search is rewarded by a much bigger and brighter glow. And she stops. It’s him. he has a tail now, but it really is him.

Sand can hear Latn make a grumble when he brings up the picture of Aysha. It really does look like her but why would the city bring her back now? 

[To: Aysha]

[txt] it changed just a little while ago

[txt] its better now i think with the forest

Sand does give up a little of what area he is in, but it doesn’t really help since the forest is so large. Sand wouldn’t even know where to go if Aysha asked to meet up. Though his fallen feathers do leave a nice trail if one could follow the correct one.

Aysha smiles. She had a feeling he’d be in the forest area. Now it was just a matter of finding him. 

[to: Sand]

[txt] it would be easier to talk about this in person

Her tail flicks to an fro while she thinks, before a familiar green glow catches her eye. She ventures off the path to investigate, finding one of Sand’s feathers lying in the dirt. She scans the area and finds another, and another. 

[txt] Sit tight, I think I should be able to find you

Sand was somewhere in the forest, letting himself be lost in it with no reason to find his way out. The more he was lost the more he felt away from the worlds and people he knew. Perhaps hes a bit too deep into his thoughts to think anything good, but without the weight of Latn on his shoulder he would be alone.

Though a noise does tear him from his thoughts, though it takes him a moment to figure out its his phone. However the message isn’t one he expected, after all the sender had left the city a while back.

Does he answer? It could just be something the city made to try to call him back from the forest. Still he couldn’t let the text go.

[To: Aysha]

[From:Sand]

[txt] aysha is gone from the city who are you

The reply isn’t surprising, though it still stings a little. 

[To: Sand]

[From: Aysha] 

[txt] It’s Aysha! 

[txt] Really!

This time she snaps a quick selfie to send to him, just to extra confirm

[txt] I got brought back

What Aysha once knew as Cotes Ward had, like all the rest of Spirale, gone through quite the alarming transformation. Dense, nonsensical forest filled every corner of the area, broken up only by lonely roads that led to the center of the ward. 

It’s as she’s wandering one of these roads that she pulls out her phone. Her ears tick down as she scrolls through her contacts. If Sand is still in the city, he’d be in this area. Finally, she gets to his name. She stops walking, staring at the name for a moment, working up the courage to click it and start typing. 

[To: Sand]

[From: Aysha]

[txt] Sand? 

But the sight that greets her on the other side is new. This is not the Spirale she knew. When she exits the cab, the streets that were once uniform pavement where replaced with cobblestone and brick. The looming skyscrapers of Archimedes now castle towers and, instead of the great bottomless hole, there was instead a massive tree. One even bigger than any she’d seen back home. 

Instinctively, her hands go to rest on her weapons. Rualna is still right where it should be, and she takes up her fan to fiddle with as she thinks. The flyer in the cab still said Spirale, she still has the smart phone. So what exactly happened in the month that she was gone???

“Oh? Its your birthday?” Chimera squishes Aysha a little more, “Guess that means I should do something for you, though how old are you anyway?” Chimera didn’t normally ask ages but if Aysha knew it was her birthday then she would probably know her own age right?

Aysha’s still in her happy birthday mood, wandering around Cotes in a new outfit when she hears a voice call out to her. And then next thing she knows she’s pulled into a hug.

“C-Chimera?” her face immediately goes red when she realizes who it is. She dips her head low, both to hide her face and to fix her ruffled hair. “Ahhhh, you messed up the hair clips!” 

But still, even in her flustered state, she’s happy. Happy that she’s having a nice birthday, that she got to see them. So when she lifts her head again to look at them, it’s with red cheeks and a bright smile. 

Euden perks up when he hears Aysha call to him, and gives her a wave back. He decides to let her run to him since she seems more excited but then there is a poof of smoke. Euden clearly is confused if his face shows anything but then he sees the little fox that Aysha has become.

“You can become a fox now Aysha?“ He gets on his knees so the fox doesn’t have to keep looking up at him but hes very surprised by this. Her transformation was nothing like his own to Dragon but it still was really neat. 

“Your fox self is really cute!“ He finally gives out when the surprise leaves him a little bit. He wonders if it would be okay to pet her, but that seems a bit odd seeing as she still is Aysha under all that.

[txt] do i need to come home

[txt] or will you be okay

[txt] i 

[txt] crush selfie

[txt] ?

[txt]  i dont understand aysha

[txt] crush = someone i wanna smooch

[txt] selfie = pic i took of me

[txt] it was bad