This is a follow up story for A Fox In The Real World. I am writing this on a whim, just my last one. The first thing I came up with the idea of the forbidden song due to wild thinking of immortality and happiness, then I thought of a very funny event involving booze, Ahri, James, Sona, children, music, and the creation of Echo which I never even spilled the beans, my greatest secrets! Anyway I highly recommend going back and reading the first one but it's probably not going to be required for this one. Now, onto the story.
A hundred and thirty years had passed since James first stepped into Runeterra and a lot has changed. The institute had recently fallen and war had resumed between the nations, the bloody conflict spreading across the land like a plague. Cities fell and the lands changed. Champions were made and lost, many great men and women falling in battle. After seven years of battle the war ended, the two final warring countries of Damacia and Noxus laying down their arms when the other alliances formed up and marched on both armies, forcing them to surrender.
Our story revolves around a family of Kitsune, immortal fox spirits. They had remained neutral during the whole war, opting to fight only for the land surrounding their home just over a mile away from the ruins of the great city that was once the institute. These foxes tended to the land and the few people who still lived there, and with their power the land thrived.
Ahri the nine tailed fox, the master of the land and hero of the people, along with her daughter Echo the seven tailed fox had fought the armies as they had attempted to take the small area of land and were hailed as heroes. Once the land had returned to peace they continued to watch out for their home and began to raise a city from those they had taken in. The small village they had allowed to live on the hills grew into a town, the refugees from war taking up businesses and farms. As their numbers grew they created a government, turning to the one who had guided them from the start. Ahri turned them down, passing the job to her only son and wisest of her children Cross. He ruled over them fair and just, taking in the opinion of everyone and often asking the mortals for advice before deciding what to do.
Even though he often busy with the people, Cross always had time for when his family when they sought him out. He was especially close with his younger sister Kyra, who devoted her life to her music. She spent a lot of her time in her garden, a great expanse of many kinds of plants all surrounding a single sakura tree at the top of a hill. She spent her time listening to the music of others who came to her or performed her own. Combined with her beauty, she was very popular amongst those who lived in town. Echo often joined her, listening keenly to her sister's music whenever she came home.
Echo was the eldest of the three, and the most powerful. She was a free spirit, roaming the lands and bringing back what she found for her siblings. She visited many people and saw many things, some of which would be best forgotten. All the while she searched for something that only she knew, sometimes a person, sometimes a place. Always searching for something. Ahri would come with on occasion to venture with her daughter to places unknown.
And with this, the family would often be separated. This did not bother them, however, since unless they died to a disease or a weapon they would live forever. A few months were nothing in their life span.
There was only one day in the year that all four foxes gathered in one place, a day at the beginning of spring. They would gather below the sakura tree and rest for a day, sharing their experiences and adventures from the year. Only the kitsune were permitted access to the garden that day. Here is where our story starts.
"The pool of truth.
Fire, bright fire,
Burning everywhere.
Cold, real cold,
Something strange is here.
Flames flickering, glinting eyes,
I think I'm being fallowed.
Water reflecting like a mirror,
In its stone hallow.
I look around, with great fear,
The fire has gone out.
I am in a cave, it's light depraved,
There is no way out.
An eerie light, I look around,
There is no one here.
I approach the pool, the air is cool,
I see a reflection there.
I see my face, it's the same,
But my eyes are totally new.
For in them I see, the true nature of me,
The creature who only I knew."
Kyra fell silent and took a bow, her newest song ending. Her siblings and mother clapped and praised her work, causing her to grin happily. "Thanks guys." She said, scratching the back of her head. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." Her short raven hair shifted slightly as a spring breeze and her golden eyes gleamed with pride. Her small frame was clothed in a light green dress, making her appear more like one of the flowers she cared for with the humans from the town. Her five tails fanned out behind her and waved slightly in the breeze.
"It was a good one." Cross said. "I assume you were speaking of the part of us we never let anyone else know about, our hidden life or mind?" Unlike his sisters who carefully groomed their hair each and everyday, Cross opted to keep his black hair messy. If it wasn't for his jet black ears and tail he could have easily passed for a human in his blue fall jacket and jeans. His golden eyes almost always shone with curiosity.
"Yes, I did." Kyra answered. She sat down on the grass next to her brother, who immediately gave her an affectionate nod. "So, Echo. Did you find what you were looking for this year?"
"No, I didn't this time." Echo said, her white braided hair shifting on her shoulder as she shook her head. "However, I did find these." She reached into the traveling bag she brought with her everywhere she went and produced a couple of small crystals that slowly changed colors. She tossed them, the crystals beginning to float on their own before hitting the ground. The others let out a bunch of oohs as they saw the stones. "Wait, there's more. Watch this." Echo's sapphire eyes locked on one of the stones and she cast a small orange foxfire at it. The crystal shimmered and absorbed the attack before it started to glow and float a little higher.
"this is incredible!" Cross exclaimed. He grabbed one of the stones and held it in his hand. He seemed to focus on it and it began to change colors faster before it stopped on a deep blue. "If you put your magic into it, you can control its reactions. I wonder..." He trailed off and stared at the stone. He must have been using different kinds of magic because the crystal changed shape into a sphere. "That is fascinating. Where did you find these?"
"In a cave I wandered into." Echo replied simply. "Okay then, my turns over. Mom, your next."
Ahri, who had been spinning three of the stones around in the air, set them back down where they floated on their own. "Nothing much really happened to me. I spent my time in town." She shrugged, not finding much to talk about. "Oh, what I'd give for a good old video game sometimes."
"We haven't gone back to earth for almost forty years. I almost forgot that it had existed." Kyra said, a look of nostalgia on her face. "I wonder how they've changed."
"Their almost completely absorbed in their technology." Cross said. "I still pop in every now and then."
"Hmmm. I thought they were in a civil war." Ahri said.
"Mom, that was almost a century ago." Echo said. "Have you even been back to earth since the death of Trump and the end of the war?"
"I guess I haven't." Ahri admitted. "For the longest time I never had the chance or reason to go back. My time was always spent fighting in the league or raising you three with James." All four of them cast a glance at the sakura tree, remembering just who was buried underneath it.
"I have to admit, I never really encountered another human like him." Ahri said nostalgically. "But I know just what he would say if he was here."
"Stop looking gloomy and start eating the cake?" Kyra asked, producing said cake from behind her back.
"Bullseye! Let eat." They all laughed as Ahri began to cut into the delicious treat, a smile like a little kid on her face. Ahri gave them a questioning look as she served the food on little plates. "What? Is it something I said?"
"Mom, are you sure your the oldest one here?" Cross asked jokingly, causing Ahri to fluster.
"I am not a child!" She argued, puffing out her cheeks.
"If you say so, little one." Cross teased, causing his sisters to laugh harder.
"Geez, that so embarrassing coming from my own son." Ahri pouted. That soon disappeared when she took a bite from the cake. "Wow, this is good. Where did you get this?"
"I'm friends with the baker's son." Kyra replied, blushing slightly. "I think he might like me since he comes hang out with me a lot."
"Oooh, he cute. What was his name again, Peta?" Echo said, her natural sense of gossip shared amongst all woman kicking in.
"It's Peter, sis." Kyra replied. She fiddled with the wooden flute she always carried with her when she said the name, looking down at it to avoid the gaze of her family.
"So you like him." Ahri said, leaning in so that she could see her daughter's face. Kyra blushed further. "Oh you don't have to be shy about it. If you like him, tell him. What could go wrong?"
"But I'm like, decades older than him." Kyra said, running a finger down the flute before raising it up. "I just don't know if it would work." She started to play, channeling her doubt and longing into a song.
As she played, the wind rustled the branches of the tree and caused a shower of pink petals to fall over them. Cross quickly cast a guard spell over the food, keeping them out of the cake. Kyra continued to play, using some of her own magic and making the petals dance around her to the flow of her song.
The sound of an ocarina joined into Kyra's song, matching her notes perfectly. Kyra, surprised, stopped playing. All of the foxes turned to look at a new comer to the garden, caught off guard by her sudden appearance.
The girl looked to be in her early thirties. She wore a blue dress with gold trimming and carried a beautifully carved ocarina in hand. She had her blue hair tied in two pony tails to the sides. Her blue eyes sparkled mischievously as the nine tailed fox jaw dropped.
"Your heart plays such a beautiful tune Kyra." The girl said, bowing her head slightly.
"Sona?" Ahri whispered, slowly rising from the ground.
"That was my mothers name." The girl said. "My name is Yuki. My father was James."
To be continued...
Hey guys, I would like to welcome you back if you managed to track this from my other story. If not, you got no idea what I just dropped. Sir owl if you're reading this, I would like to ask if you want to beta for this story too.
Anyway, the story isn't as messed up as you think. I'll explain everything next chapter, so until then enjoy the return of Echo and her siblings. It's more fun for me as an author when you make a guess, so please leave a review and go read my first part.