Sitting in a large tree several miles away from the event, a seemingly dour fox spirit could be seen talking to a floating scroll.
"I'm confused... Why have you decided to contact again?"
Keran pressed her knees into her chest as she dropped her head down.
"I just... wanted to hear your voice, mother."
Through the scroll floating in front of her face, Keran stared at her mother Aya as she lounged on her stone throne.
Despite her attempts to hide it, Aya was clearly interested in exactly what was going on with her daughter.
Had the two of them always had the best relationship? No. But she had always known her daughter.
It was easy for her to figure out that sothing was wrong here just by looking at her ears and eyes.
"Out with it, my pup. Has that husband of yours done sothing I should castrate him for?"
Keran smiled bitterly. "The day I have to co to you to complain about my husband is the day that he will no longer be mine… And he will always be mine."
It wasn't visible on her face, but Aya was very relieved. She knew that her daughter's relationship was the greatest thing that she had going for her right now.
But it also begged the question of what exactly could have been causing her to have such a gloomy look if it wasn't marital troubles.
"I am aware that I may not strike you as the worrying type, but I am not immune to parental concern... So out with it. Why do you keep looking at like that?"
Keran couldn't really explain everything to her mother right now. Not only did she not have the words, but she also knew how her mother would react.
If Keran showed the slightest inkling of being concerned for her mother, then Aya would beco boisterous in an effort to prove that she was fine.
She wasn't the kind of woman to just allow her daughter to worry about her.
Which, in a way was as admirable as it was concerning.
"I suppose that I just... wanted to check and make sure that you were healthy, mother."
"Hmph, you brat. Of course I'm healthy. Are there any warriors mighty enough to bring low? I don't think so."
Keran found herself laughing- her expectations of her mother proving exactly correct.
"What? Are you laughing at ?? I hope you didn't just contact for gas, Keran! I am a very busy woman!" Aya snapped.
Servant: "My Queen, your dinner is read-"
"Fuck you, get out!"
"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am!"
Keran laughed so hard that she nearly fell out of the tree. This in turn only seed to frustrate her mother more, which amused Keran even more.
It was a viscous cycle.
But suddenly, Keran's smile slowly softened.
"Hey... I will contact you later, mother. I love you."
"W-Wait! Don't think you can leave without telling -"
The scroll Aya was speaking through suddenly curled back up and fell into Keran's waiting palm.
After putting it away, the charming kitsune looked up at the branch above her head.
There, a small green lizard no bigger than her middle finger stared back at her with uniquely inquisitive eyes.
"...Even for us, that transformation ability is remarkable. If we weren't linked at the soul then I doubt I would be able to tell the difference."
"..."
"... I understand that I was acting out of character, alright..? I will apologize at a later ti, but I just..." Keran's gaze traveled downward towards the forest floor where animals still skittered about.
"...I rember what it was like when she ca ho that day. It was the first ti I ever heard her screaming. To this day I don't know if it was because of her injuries or.. because she lost my father."
"..."
"When I heard that he was the blood of that man, I just felt... I-It doesn't matter. My behavior was inexcusable, I know that.
But for reasons I could not explain... it just made miss my father, and mourn for my mother."
"That's hardly wrong or inexplainable, Keran." The lizard finally said.
Keran smiled wryly. "It is so funny... after all of this ti I still feel like I am still a child who behaves on her first instinct. Am I ever going to grow at all..?"
"Stop."
The lizard suddenly lunged at her from it's perch on a branch.
In an instant, Keran was being tackled by a man nearly two heads larger than her.
As both of them fell from the tree, their tails wrapped around the entirety of their bodies to protect them from the fall.
It was almost like they had entered their own little world privy only to them.
"You are having the sa feelings that everyone in the world will have by the ti we are ready to leave the lower realm. We are treading into uncharted waters here, my love, and stories like yours will not be uncommon.
But he wants to make ands for the barbarity of his father without being asked. Our motivations are aligned, and even though I find him a bit... unsavory, he is far from his father. I believe you should listen to his story."
"...And what will I hear?"
Taira smiled as the petal of their tails unfolded and the sunlight poured down on them from above. "A story that soone like you, who is overflowing with compassion, will never be able to unhear."
-
The eating of the jade essence peaches had already ended by the ti that Keran and Taira returned to the festival.
Now, the masses were congregating as if they were normal n and won; talking about things like their interests, making introductions and especially acting on budding attractions.
Not every sect is as lax on their leaving policy as Black Myth or Roaring Sound.
Because of that, this event is one of the few opportunities that the sect mbers get to enjoy new company.
And if that company just so happens to be extrely attractive too? Then that's just more of a win for everyone involved.
Raymond and Sawyer were but a few mbers of Black Myth who had been under siege since earlier.
Big Country was the only one who seed to be having difficulty with all of the attention he was receiving- as he just wasn't used to it.
Not to ntion that there was soone he was still looking to have a chat with that he hadn't been able to get alone.
But by so small miracle, he'd finally found her.
The only downside? The three male sect mbers buzzing around her like flies…
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