Author's Note: I am seriously running out of ways to stop you from panicking. Yes, this is technically not Normalcy. HOWEVER! I technically didn't write most of this… I wrote the author's note. That's about it. This is a one-shot by TheJadeDragon37. The reason as to why it's published on this account will be dealt with at the end of the fic. For now let's interview the man in question.
TUH: And so, we have the one cutting the proverbial red ribbon, Jade. What made you want to write this oh dragon of slightly green coloration?
Jade: We needed a chapter showcasing these two. People just need to understand how adorable these girls are
TUH: If they start to ship them, I blame you.
Jade: Hey this is a ship free chapter... mostly. They do sorta ship themselves and I have no control over Mika.
TUH: I sense a hidden agenda. We'd better wrap this up before you start straight up telling them to ship the two. So, as a last statement, how did you feel the chapter turned out and do you have anything to tell the readers?
Jade: Blame the dog of the wooden variety. I feel it got across what I wanted, the friendship between the two. As for the readers, be prepared for a sweet story.
TUH: By sweet he means call the dentist and book a full cavity treatment. In any case, enjoy!
An Unfinished Scrapbook
The First Picture
The Expedition to the Zoo
August 27th, 20 P.R.
A young girl of 14 was rummaging through her closet. Her bright red hair loosely fell halfway down her back. Sitting atop her head were a pair of pointed wolf ears, they flicked as the girl continued to sort through a mess of clothes. Currently all she wore was a simple light purple one piece dress. A red tail matching her hair in color with a white tip swished back and forth happily as the girl thought about what she'd be doing today. Pulling out a pale blue tunic the young girl looked it over with her heterochromatic eyes, her left blue and her right green. Tossing it onto a pile on her bed she continued to flip through her wardrobe, careful not to have her claws tear any of the fabric.
"Iris, hurry it up!" the girl's mother called out from downstairs. Iris perked her head up at her mother's words. "Your date is going to be here any second."
"Pris isn't my date Mother!" Shaking her head Iris quickly changed her clothes adding a pair of black shorts.
"I'll believe it when you actually get a date," Mika said as she appeared in her daughter's doorway. Iris' mother was a tall woman, easily dwarfing the five foot one wolf girl. She had short yellow-blonde hair and striking golden eyes. "I mean, you never take this long to get dressed unless it's for Pris. Sounds like getting ready for a date, your Mom was the same way when we were dating."
Grabbing a white messenger style bag from her bed Iris had settled on her outfit of the blue tunic coupled with a pair of black shorts. Taking a black scrunchie she tied her hair up into a high ponytail, the tip of it reaching down to her neck. Heading for the door she found that her mother was still standing in the doorway blocking her, a questioning look on the woman's face.
"Ugh, yes Mother, I have everything. Mom packed it all for me so there's no chance of me forgetting anything." Iris was known for her bad memory, she carried around a notebook filled with questions, answers, and general things that she needed to remember. However, even that wasn't a enough to make sure the teenage girl would remember everything so her parents would often double check or even help out as they saw fit.
"Alright Squirt, but do you remember the spell I taught you?" In response Iris touched the top of her head between her ears. Starting from where her hand was her red hair started to turn a vibrant purple in color, she repeated the process for her tail, even removing the white tip to make it fully purple. "Fair enough then, go ahead and change back."
"So Mother…" Iris started as her hair color returned to normal, "is there any way Pris and I can-"
"Don't even ask Iris, you know the rules," Mika warned her daughter knowing full well just what exactly she was about to ask for.
"But it takes so long to get there. We can actually have fun if we can take your bike!" There was one very good reason why Iris wasn't allowed to take Mika's motorcycle out for a ride. Namely that reason was Pris. "I promise that I'll be the one to drive, I won't let Pris anywhere near the driver's seat. I'll be in full control."
"No, last time you said that and I got my bike back it had a few modifications on it that I don't remember asking for."
A loud sigh could be heard from behind Mika. "She's asking to borrow your bike again?" Rin asked her wife. Iris' other mother, Rin, was a shorter woman, though not as short as Iris, with dark blue hair done in the same style as the wolf-girl. Her soft caring blue eyes darted back and forth between her family members. Mika simply nodded the affirmative. "This was exactly why I was against you getting that thing in the first place. We can walk to town easily enough and it's a danger to Iris."
"But it's fun!" Mother and daughter said in perfect unison.
At that moment the doorbell rang and they could all hear the last member of the family, Iris' older sister Fayette, open the door. Iris' enhanced hearing was able to pick up who was at the door. Only one person had that soft spoken of a voice, not to mention she was the only company the family was expecting to have over at the moment.
"You'll just have to walk today Iris," Rin told her youngest child. With a defeated look Iris walked past her parents and headed downstairs.
Fay and Pris were standing in the living room having a small chat. Running over and greeting her best friend by pulling her into a hug, Iris announced her presence. Priscilla was a girl with wavy light brown hair that fell down to her neck. Pale violet eyes opened wide in shock at the sudden attack from her friend. Pris' frail looking body looked like it would be snapped by the strength behind Iris' hug, but despite her weak looks, she's was easily able to endure it. She had a fur covered dragon tail poking out of a white full length dress. Silver accessories covered the girl's neck, ankles and wrists. Pulling back Iris gave a toothy smile, showing off her fangs.
Standing back, Fay let her sister have her moment with her friend. Fayette was the tallest of the three. She had silver-white hair that fell down the entire length of her back, a silver hairclip pulled it together at her neck, causing it to flare out below. Behind white half-rimmed glasses were a pair of dark purple eyes. Fay was wearing a pastel pink blouse with white full length skirt. She was a full chested girl and she tried to hide it by wearing baggy clothes. To draw more attention to the shy girl, a pair of white angel like wings were folded up on her back.
What got Iris the most whenever she saw her sister and best friend together was how they were both shy people and yet they never seemed to have much in the way of conversation. To her mind, these two should have a lot to talk about since they were both so introvert. Instead they both just talked about the little things, weather, what's going on at school, the things that you ask about just to awkwardly pass time.
"Pris you ready to head out?" Iris asked, her toothy smile still plastered on her face.
"How'd you even get tickets to the zoo already, it just opened last week?" Pris asked once Iris had let her go and given her a bit of breathing room.
"Don't tell her Fay!" Iris shouted at her sister who had opened her mouth to explain. "It's supposed to be a surprise and I've worked really hard to keep it that way." With a soft smile, Fay waved goodbye to the two before she left the room. "Don't worry about how I got them though Pris, let's just go have fun."
Taking Pris by the hand Iris pulled her towards the door. On a nearby table sat a set of keys, the only keyring that had more than one key on it was Mika's. Looking over her shoulder Iris checked to see if her parents had come downstairs yet. Listening carefully for any indication that someone was coming, Iris quickly snatched the keys off the table.
Running out the door Iris led Pris to the motorcycle parked just outside under a makeshift carport made of stone that was off place compared to the wooden house. Handing the keys over to Pris, Iris climbed up on the back of the bike and let the frail looking draconic girl take the driver seat with a large smile on her face.
With a roar the bike's engine came to life and Pris peeled out of the makeshift carport as fast as the vehicle would let her. Dust kicked up behind them as they made their way down the driveway. Iris had her arms wrapped around Pris, holding onto the girl as if her life depended on it, which it did at the speeds that Pris was doing. A speed limit meant nothing to this driver, she would take the bike to its max speed and would bob and weave through any traffic that she encountered. It was a dangerous endeavor no matter how you looked at it.
As the two made their way down the highway towards the zoo Iris had her ears laid as flat as she could get them. While she enjoyed the rush of the wind against her face, she didn't enjoy the resulting earache that came from such high speeds and she didn't think to grab a helmet before hopping on. Pris' hair whipped back into Iris' face while she clutched to the brunette.
Passing cars by on the highway like they were standing still, they made it to the zoo in record time, in fact they had a couple of minutes before the doors even opened to let people in since Pris had driven so fast. Since the zoo was only a week old, there was very much a line to get into the place. A crowd of over 200 people had gathered outside the gates waiting to get inside. While Iris had somehow mysteriously gotten tickets beforehand, many of the waiting people were there trying to see if they couldn't still buy tickets to the newest attraction in Mobliz.
A large brown brick wall surrounded the entire zoo complex, the only entrance to the inside was a single gate with several ticket stands to deal with the throng of customers the establishment had anticipated. The gates were simple metal bars that went in between each ticket booth that could be locked and unlocked by a button within the nearest booth. You could see a little inside the zoo through the gate but all you saw as the large red brick gift shop that had the words "Zoo Gift Shop" in green bubble letters above a pair of glass doors.
Once Pris had seen the crowd though, she started to tremble at the sight of so many people. She didn't exactly do well with large crowds and as her best friend, Iris had been prepared for this. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a pair of sunglasses and handed them over to Pris who took them with a confused look on her face. Due to her famous parents Pris would attract a lot of attention if she was spotted by one of her family's fans, a pair of sunglasses was going to hide nothing. Reaching up and placing her hand on Pris' head, Iris caused the brown hair to turn a snow white color.
"I know how much you dislike crowds Pris, don't think I wouldn't come prepared for this." Taking some pride in her thoughtfulness Iris grabbed Pris' hand and led her to the mass of people. "Excuse me! Pardon me!" Iris shouted as she wormed her way in between people. While she was a small girl, Iris was able to push people aside with relative ease as she able to catch people off guard with her strength. Pulling her friend through the openings she had created was another matter altogether as the people had wised up to what was happening and tried to close ranks to prevent anyone from getting ahead of them.
Once they had gotten stuck with Iris on one side and Pris on the other side of a small cluster of people. They refused to let the now white haired girl pass through. Annoyed at this fact Iris proved to the people around her that the ears and tail weren't a simple decoration and let out an ear piercing howl. Startled long enough by the call, the group broke up long enough for Pris to get pulled through. Navigating the mess of people this way, the two made it to the front of the group where there were a line of security guards standing to make sure that peace was kept once the zoo opened.
"Hi there," Iris said to one of the guards when they spotted the two potential troublemakers that had forced their way to the front of the line. "I have two tickets under the name Iris Fuco, anyway you can check to see if they're there?"
"There are no reserved tickets, whoever told you that lied little girl." The rather large man said as he looked down at the girl in front of him. "You'll have to wait and buy them just like everyone else."
"I have a problem with that though. You see, I talked with Noel and he's the one that told me the tickets would be ready for me on this day. So unless the guy who orchestrated this entire thing was lying to me, I think I'm right."
"And as I told you girly, there are no reserving tickets." The guard repeated, sounding like he got this conversation ten times an hour.
"I'm sorry miss, did you say you were Iris Fuco?" An older man with long grey hair came walking out from the zoo entrance. He wore a pair of jean overalls that were stained brown in a few places, the smell emanating off him gave a clear indication of what caused those stains.
"That I did," Iris happily replied.
"You fool!" The old poo stained man smacked the guard upside his bald head hard enough that it floored him. "We were expecting this young lady today. She's going to-"
"Please don't!" Iris shouted. "I rather not have that explained in front of all these people."
"Of course Miss Fuco, please forgive me if this grunt caused you any problems."
"So long as my friend and I can get in there's no worries." Gesturing over to Pris, Iris made sure that the old man knew just who exactly was to accompany Iris into the zoo.
"Yes, you may both enter now so that you may start viewing the attractions before today's special event." The old man motioned for the two to follow him and the crowd of people started to shout as only two people were being let in when the rest of them had to wait another half hour before the doors opened to the public.
The first place that the two girls headed towards was the aquatics center. A zoo as grand as this one housed more than just land bound animals, it held everything creatures from all corners of the globe, and even some from the other worlds thanks to some patronage by a few wealthy individuals. Making their way to the aquarium section of the zoo, they took notice of just how the place was set up. Lush greenery lined the path to give the place a more natural feel to it. The path was made up of stones to lend even more to the feeling of being out in nature while you walked through the zoo, even the railing was made out of wood.
Signs posted at the splits in the roads alerted the patrons to the locations of the various wildlife. Coming to one such signpost Iris quickly scanned it to see where the aquarium was at. Taking a left at the junction the road started to slope downwards. Soon after the intersection they found themselves underground with pale blue lights offering little in the way of illumination.
Reinforced glass lined the walls of the underground, letting the tourists see into the tanks housing the animals. The first tank Iris and Pris came across was the one holding a group of polar bears. The white furred bears were swimming down deep into the water, while a few of them sat up on the rocks that served as their housing.
"I haven't seen one of these before." Iris said as she pressed her face to the glass to see the bear in front of her. "Thought I would have seen something like this wandering around before."
"It's a polar bear Iris," Pris giggled at her friend's lack of knowledge. "They live in a colder climate than what we have around here, that's why you haven't seen them before. We did learn about them in school."
"We did?" Obviously having forgotten about any such thing Iris looked a little embarrassed. She quickly got over it and was once more completely entranced by the bears.
"Did you remember to bring your notebook with you today?" Knowing just how forgetful her best friend was Pris hoped that Iris did remember to bring her digital notepad.
Reaching into her bag Iris produced the tablet and started to jot down, using a stylus, what she noticed of the animal in front of her. Should anyone go through the notebook they would find it confusing. A lot of what was written inside was written in a short hand that only the writer could understand. It was a combination of both letters and pictures that helped Iris recall the information that she had wanted to remember for a later date.
"Don't worry, Mom packed everything for me today." Sheepishly Iris held open her bag so that Pris could see the contents. Before she had the chance to actually to take a look inside Iris closed the bag. "Whoops, can't have you taking a look inside, just trust me when I say Mom thought of everything, you know how she is."
"Iris, just what are you hiding today? You got us in before anyone else, you used Noel's name to get in, and you won't show me your bag." Feeling quite confused about what was going on Pris wanted to see what just Iris was up to.
"Like I told Fay back at home, it's a secret and I'm trying really hard to keep it that way Pris." Iris looked back at the polar bears so she wouldn't have to see the slightly sadden face of Pris looking back at her. "But I promise that it'll be worth it when you do find out." Pushing off from the glass Iris started to run down the hallway. Halfway down she turned around and waved for Pris to come chase after her.
Together the two looked through the tanks. There was everything from your normal penguins and sharks in the different tanks all the way up to the more mystical creatures such as seahorse like Kagura with their horns still intact. While sharks were indeed hostile creatures, ones such as the Kagura had special powers and so there were magical barriers to help reinforce the glass that stood between it and the average person.
By the time they had reached the end of the aquarium people had started to file in, the gates having finally opened up. The silence the two girls had before to accompany them was now gone as kids and their parents caught sight of the animals in surrounding them.
"Looks like we have some good timing Pris. Let's go and check out the desert area and see some rare animals from a place much warmer than here."
"But isn't the forest habitat closer?"
"That it is, but the day is only going to get hotter and I want to get out of that heat before it even starts. Some of us have fur rather than hair, gets too warm sometimes and I shed more than I like."
They spent the rest of the morning was spent looking around the various habitat. The desert habitat was in a separate building to simulate the intense heat that the creatures were used to. While inside Iris instantly started to sweat and started fanning herself to try to keep cool, even her tail was swishing back and forth to try and generate a breeze to keep her body temperature down. Pris on the other hand was completely immune to the change in heat, her dragon and esper blood letting her adapt without problems.
Most of what was inside the heated dome were cactuars and lizards such as the drakes. While it wasn't exactly encouraged by the staff, some of the creatures would walk up to the path that ran through and you could interact with the more friendly animals. Everyone had started to panic when a large Ring Wyrm approached the path. It's large grey muscled body told the group just how strong the monster was, the silver ring that floated around the creature's neck gave it the name Ring Wyrm. Tonberries clad in their brown cloaks appeared out from under sand on platforms. With kitchen knives in hand they started to saunter over to the approaching Wyrm. Only the strongest or most foolish of creatures challenged an armed Tonberry, when the Ring Wyrm spotted the three little guys that were no bigger than it's paw, it started to divert its path away from the humans that had gathered.
One of the guides that had come with the tourist group explained that a pact with the tonberries had been made. So long as the zoo staff gave them apples and oddly enough, petted the tonberries, they would help protect the zoo-goers from any approaching monsters. The trio of protective tonberries came to the group with their knives sheathed somewhere in their cloaks. Pris reached down and rubbed the head of the nearest Tonberry, it's glowing yellow eyes closed as it fell into bliss.
Further down the path they ran into a very rare monster, the ever elusive El Gigantuar. A gigantic walking cactus that not only had a sombrero on its head and a classic evil villain mustache, it somehow held a pair of maracas in its hands. Both girls were astounded that such a thing had not only been found, but that it had been captured and brought safely to the zoo.
Shaking its maracas to a tune that it had created, El Gigantuar was dancing to the music. It was quite a hilarious dance that it was putting on and it wasn't long before everyone started laughing at the antics of the dancing cactus. The music stopped and the dancing Gigantuar turned around to see the group of people that had snuck up on it. When it spotted everyone its eyes and mouth grew wide. In a puff of dust, El Gigantuar fled the scene.
"Looks like you guys are the first ones to see one of our rare creatures. We've been open a week and this is the first time that El Gigantuar has graced us with his presence. As you can see he's a little shy when it comes to meeting large groups of people. He's actually quite docile and loves when the zoo staff come out to feed all the animals." The tour guide explained in a loud voice as he looked out in the direction of the still fleeing giant cactus.
"How lucky was that?!" Iris exclaimed, temporarily forgetting all about the heat.
"That was sooo cool," Pris agreed, stars in her eyes as they all witnessed the sombrero wearing monster finally vanish from sight. "Senhor Gigantaur can dance well."
"I got to be careful, he might put me out of a job with moves like that," Iris joked.
With their rare find in the desert habitat they next headed to the snowy region of the zoo. Everything in the zoo's layout was done around a focal point in the center. There were quite a number of habitats but each and everyone one of them was somehow connected to the underground water habitat where the two girls had started their trip. It was designed so that you could travel underneath and see the aquatic life of each area and then head above ground to view the local animals that didn't spend their time underwater. Of course animals like the polar bears had a small tank of water to go alongside the above ground pen.
In the exact center of the zoo was a see through floor showcasing some of the rarer, more tropical fish. Both Iris and Pris had already seen them from their trip underground but it was another experience altogether to be able to look down and see them. They stared at the fish for a little longer until Pris' stomach began to growl.
"Guess we'll hit up a food stand next," pulling out a bag of trail mix Iris handed it over to Pris. "Not much but Mom was thinking it'd help hold you over till we got to some actual food." Pris graciously took the bag of nuts, raisins, and such from Iris before downing the entire contents at once. Even with all that food ingested, Pris' stomach was still rumbling. "Yeah, thought that's about how it'd go."
Finding the nearest map they looked to see what direction they needed to go in order to find food. Luckily most of the shops were located near the center of the establishment. A quick jaunt down a nearby path and they found themselves near a gift shop, one that also happened to be selling cotton candy. Some of the sticks had enough of the fluffy sugar on them that Iris felt queasy just looking at them. On the other hand, Pris ran over with money in hand to purchase two of them for herself, leaving Iris in the dust. The wolf girl sniffed at the air, if they were getting close to food she should be able to smell it on the wind. Closing her eyes she tried to cut off other senses to try and focus on looking for a particular scent.
"Want some Iris?" Pris held out one of the globs of blue cotton candy, a large portion already missing from it. Opening her eyes Iris took a bite out of the crystallized sugar before she returned her attention to seeking out the smell she longed for. "Umm Iris, what are you doing?"
"They have to have it Pris. Mom's not here, this is a rare opportunity to have them." Walking along the path towards what food she could smell Iris continued to sniff at the air.
"Oh, checking to see if anyone is barbecuing any ribs." Pris stated having easily figured that Iris would be searching for her favorite meal. By now Pris had already finished off her cotton candy and was on the hunt for more food herself.
"Yes! Mom only makes them on my birthday and only ever enough for one serving. I could eat a behemoth sized rack of ribs and still want more. Properly barbequed ribs are the most delicious thing on the planet, have to be left on the bone to. I mean, the bone is half the joy of ribs." Iris' tail was swishing back and forth at high speeds as she thought about mowing down on a rack of ribs.
Making their way further down the path they stopped at every store that sold junk food. If it wasn't for her ravenous appetite she would have had her arm full of sweets that ranged from lollipops as big as her head to bags of popcorn, both salted and caramel. All of which she ate in the time it took to move from one shop to the next. By the seventh store Iris had started to get worried about her friend, even with it being Pris and her biology being vastly different than a human's there was no way that many sweet was good for her.
"Are you sure you should be eating so many sweets?" She asked, no longer able to just sit by and watch Pris eat nothing but sweet foods. While she certainly understood the desire to go a bit wild and eat whatever she wanted, Iris was also very conscious about what she ate. Her mom always had made sure she had vegetables and when Fay had figured out that she wanted to be a doctor, well Iris had learned to watch what she ate to the point that it was part of her very being now, though she would still gorge herself on ribs given any chance. Not only was Pris eating so much, she had absolutely no manners in doing so. Everything went down the hatch quickly and at one point Iris had worried Pris was going to choke on her food she ate like a woman possessed. "Besides, your appetite is one of the things that gives you away, not many people eat like you do."
"No one knows who I am Iris, so shouldn't I make the best of it?" Pris asked between mouthfuls of carmel corn.
"Look girls, someone let a lizard out of her cage." A girl in her late teens came walking out of a nearby store. She pointed out Pris to her three friends. "Thought the zoo was supposed to keep animals caged up, not let them roam around with us humans."
"Hey!" Iris shouted at the girl. "What makes you think you can talk to her like that? She might look a little different but she's just as human as you are."
"Look Silph, she has a guard dog," one of the other girls laughed.
"I'm not a dog, I'm a wolf!" The distinction was small but mattered very much to Iris. She viewed dogs as more lazy than their cousin the wolf, and Iris was very much the hunter and quite active. Not to mention she was did actually have a wolf form.
"Please, you're all mutts the lot of you." The first girl said. "You think just cause you walk around on two legs and can speak makes you human? I've had hamsters that could do a few good tricks, but they were animals all the same."
"Oh god, Brittany, that white haired girl, she has horns."
All of Iris' instincts kicked in as she felt the air around her crackle with power. Every strand of fur on her tail was raised as she looked over at Pris. Normally pure violet in color, the edges of Pris' irises had started to turn a darker purple as she tapped into her magic. Quickly Iris bolted over pulled Pris away from the four girls. Already Iris could feel the flow of time stretch around her as she pulled her friend away from the bullies.
"I hope that the real wolves aren't as nice as Iris!" Pris yelled as she was dragged away.
"They aren't worth it Pris!" She tried calling out to snap the hybrid girl out of it. "You can't control your powers that well, think what'd happen to the animals if you let loose." At the mention of the animals Iris could feel the flow of time return to normal. A sigh escaped her as she slowed her down to a slight walk. By the time Iris stopped, Pris had returned to her senses.
"Sorry Iris," Pris whispered, her head hung in shame at the fact she almost used her full power against four unsuspecting people. With her hand still on Pris' arm, it was easy for Iris to pull her friend into a caring hug. "They noticed me 'cause I was eating like an animal. Mama and Papa raised me better than that. I just wanted to make the most of the time here without them."
"It's okay Pris. If it makes you feel any better I still want to chase after them and educate them on the differences between a wolf and a dog the hard way." Trying to make light of the situation as best she could Iris wanted to back to the fun they were having before hand. "And even if they didn't see you eating, I was walking around with my nose in the air trying to hunt down a ribs. If that's not animalistic i don't know what is. Speaking of," Iris lifted her nose up and sniffed the air once more, "do you smell what I smell?"
"Even after all that, you're still thinking about food?" A soft laugh escaped Pris as she could feel Iris smelling the air, the wolf girl making it far more of a production than was required.
"Well yeah, I still haven't had any. I don't care what happens today, I'm not leaving until I get some ribs."
"Let's go and find you some then." Letting Iris lead her towards the source of the smell Pris smiled at how easily Iris was able to make her forget about things like those bullies.
Snow fell from down on Iris' head, her ears twitched whenever a snowflake made its way into her ear. Unlike the heat, Iris loved the cold weather, it was the time that she really enjoyed having fur rather than hair. While her family would bundle up in winter clothing, she would run outside in her normal clothes, quite content with the temperature.
In the snow habitat the path was determined by the fact a clearly shoveled path. It felt like you were walking through a white forest most of the time and the pens that held the animals back would randomly be around the next corner or well hidden by a group of trees so you didn't know that you were near the animals until you were right on top of them. This was if were a normal person though and neither girl was what was considered normal, they could easily pick up on the sounds and smells of the animals before they approached the cages. While they walked through the snowy area the sound of teeth grinding on bone could be heard as Iris munched on the remains of her dinner.
A Behemoth was the main attraction in the habitat, Tonberries dressed in thick fur coats wondered around the outside of its cage to make sure that it didn't cause any problems. Silver rings were placed on the monster's horns, restrictors to the magic it was able to cast. This particular cage was dug down a bit so that people were more at chest level with the beast while a high voltage fence blocked it from getting out, alongside the Tonberries. Both girls enjoyed seeing that even the more aggressive monsters were given plenty of space to live in, the entire cage taking up a good thirty acres of land just for the lone creature.
But what caught their attention the most in the snow habitat were the white wolves. A pack of six had been caught and given a cage half the size of the behemoth cage. Iris' ears fell flat as she looked at the trapped animals. Her human side understood that there were bound to be wolves in a zoo and she even understood why they were on display and that they were given a comfortable home. Still, the wolf in her felt sad for her kin. No amount of food and easy living could make up for running after your prey and working hard for a satisfying meal. There was no need for them to run after anything, while stuck in this cage, they were nothing more than dogs.
"Wish I could talk with'em," Iris mumbled as she looked at the pack. "But transforming here would cause problems that I don't want to have to deal with." In her human form Iris couldn't converse with the wolves, but when she turned into one herself, she was able to speak with the entire canine family. "Just want to see how much they miss the wild."
"Ah Mistress Fuco, there you are." The old man that had let them in the gates in the first place appeared just as suddenly as he had back then. "I do believe that it's time for you to make your way to the forest habitat if you are to be on time for today's main event." Taking a glance at her tablet Iris checked the time and noticed that there was only a half hour before the event she knew was to take place.
"Ack! And you waited this long to find me?" Hurriedly Iris started to make her way back down the path to head towards the forest area, completely leaving Pris alone with the man, and totally in the dark about what was going on.
"It is a rather large place, it took some time to find you and due to the nature of the event we couldn't exactly call you over the intercom." Looking over at Pris the old man offered her his arm. "If you would come with me Ms. Verus I'd be happy to escort you to the event while your friend gets herself ready." Pris' eyes went wide as everything clicked into place, she now knew just what Iris had been keeping a secret from her.
"Thank you but I think I should catch up with her and see if she needs any help." With a polite wave goodbye Pris took off at high speeds after her friend.
Looking over her shoulder Iris spotted Pris catching up on her. Slowing down she waited for the white haired dragon girl to catch up. When Pris did manage to reach her, Iris had a large grin on her face.
"Finally figured it out?" Iris teased.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were singing today." Faking hurt Pris tried her best to look sad, but the joy of being able to go see Iris perform live was just too much. "Certainly explains why you were being so secretive today."
"I know that you haven't been able to come to any of my previous concerts, crowds alone would have been a lot for you. But I figured a surprise concert that only the zoo-goers would be able to see would have few enough people that you'd be fine."
In the forest habitat there was a open field with a stage propped up against the wall of the zoo. It was her that various events were held. While it had only been open for a week so far, a bird show was set for every Tuesday. Today though, the people who had been lucky enough to get into the zoo before the tickets sold out were going to be treated to something else entirely. Backstage one of the rising pop stars of the new age was getting ready to put on a surprise concert, paid for completely by the zoo's owner, Noel.
Iris stood in her dressing room pulling out the clothes that she had packed for when she went on stage. Her normal outfit wasn't something that her alter ego Arcia would wear. Changing from her blue tunic into a thigh length dark green sleeveless dress with a purple line going down the middle and around the hem of it. Letting Pris button up the back of her dress Iris went about lacing up her knee high black boots. Once her boots were on Iris took out the black scrunchie that held her hair in her signature ponytail.
"Do you mind brushing out the tangles Pris?" Iris pleaded as she produced a brush. "There's not much time before I'm supposed to go on stage and I still need to get my contact in." Taking the brush Pris set about making sure that Iris was ready to go out. Reaching one last time into her bag Iris pulled out a contact case. Inside was a colored lens so that when she put it over her green eye it would turn blue, matching her other eye in color.
Blinking a few times to make sure that the contact was in, Iris jumped up, the brush Pris had been using now stuck in her hair. Grabbing it, Iris did a quick few strokes herself, dying her hair purple with the spell Mika had taught her at the same time. Laughing sheepishly at herself Iris tossed the brush onto the table in front of the mirror she'd been using.
"You should probably get outside before it gets too crowded Pris," Rin's voice came from the doorway. "I can help Arcia get ready for her appearance. Seems like she forgot that she was supposed to be here an hour ago."
"Thank you Miss Rin," Pris said before bolting out the door to go and find a place to watch Iris perform.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" A peppy announcer called out over the PA system. "For those of you who haven't heard we have a very special surprise for you waiting at the main stage in the forest habitat. To celebrate the opening of the Saint Yeul's Animal Reserve we've gotten the rising pop star Arcia to come and perform! She'll be out and ready to perform in just ten minutes so you better hurry on over if you want a good spot."
"Looks like it's about time for you to head on out." Folding up Iris' discarded clothes Rin smiled at her daughter. "Even now it's still hard to think that my little girl is a big star."
"Oh Mom, I'm not that big of a star just yet. I still only do opening acts in the large concert halls."
"Even still Squirt, you've produced a CD and sold out some of the smaller venues." Beaming with pride Mika added her two cents to the matter.
"Where's Fay at?" Wondering where her older sister was Iris looked to see if she was around. "And Titania."
"Left her at the stage with Pris, both looked pretty happy to be right up against the barrier. As for your little chocobo she's back home sleeping. Can't exactly bring her to a zoo." Mika informed her. "And don't forget to dye your tail Iris. Last I checked Arcia's hair and tail were purple." Turning to look at her tail Iris found that it was indeed still its normal red hue. Stroking her tail Iris caused it to turn purple, even removing the white tip.
"Well, time for me to get out there then." Doing one last double check to make sure that her transformation from Iris into Arcia was complete, the pop star headed out of her dressing room and out towards the stage.
Reaching the edge of the stage Iris took a deep breath. Performing in front of a large crowd was nerve wracking. In order to calm her nerves she would take a few minutes before going out to look at the crowd and try to read their mood. Seeing that Pris and Fay both were pressed up against the guardrail that separated due to the massive crowd behind them trying to get closer Iris felt calmer. Her best friend and sister who both disliked large groups of people were brave enough to face their discomfort to come and see her sing, doing something she had done a hundred times before was nothing compared to that.
Her stage this time was a bit smaller, but she had been on it before the zoo opened back when she'd first been asked to come sing. While she waited for the announcer to get her little speech over with Iris went over the routine that she'd been working on to deal with the size of the stage. She'd have the entire space to herself as the band was situated on platforms around the main stage. There was a small space in front of the stage where security guards stood, a small gap between the barrier and the stage. Taking a headset from one of the staff members Iris added the last piece of her equipment to her outfit before she ran out on stage at her cue from the announcer.
"Heya everyone!" Arcia called out waving to the crowd, a spotlight following her to the center of the stage. "Are you excited to be here today?" Applause and loud unintelligible cheers were her answer. "That's what I thought."
Now actually seeing the star on stage, the crowd was getting more excited and pushing to get closer. Arcia noticed that both Pris and Fay were having a hard time staying in the front, people were trying to worm their way in between the girls and the barrier they clung to so that they could be the ones at the front. Hopping down off the stage Arcia whispered into the ear of the nearest security guard before she started walking down the open area between stage and crowd. As she made her way down the line of people, she would point to a random person and the guard would then assist them in climbing over the barrier, she of course made sure to get both Pris and Fay in her selection.
"There you two go, hope that makes things better," she whispered to the both of them before climbing back up. "Now that we have that out of the way, who's ready for a little music?!"
Once she was standing center stage the band started to play and Arcia went into her first song. The upbeat music was a perfect match to the hyperactive pop star. Her first song was to get the crowd whipped up into a frenzy, trying to match the liveliness of the crowd from the get go. Arcia pranced around showing that off the work she put into memorizing her dance moves and all the while making it look like it was second nature. For her second song, she had something with a stronger beat to it so that everyone could pick up on it and move accordingly. As she started the third song, something a bit slower to give everyone a small respite, an alarm went off throughout the zoo, cutting off the music completely.
"Zoo patrons please find the nearest staff member or Tonberry and stick with them. A few of the seals on the cages have lost power and their inhabitants have broken free. All of our staff are trained to handle these situations and the Tonberries will protect you."
On cue a group a group of Coeurl came out of the surrounding forest, their long whiskers already charged with magic. Accompanying them was a swarm of oversized Wasps, their stingers at the ready to deal with anything that got in the way of their freedom. Mixed in with the standard monster type creatures were a few normal bears.
"Oh boy," Arcia gulped when she noticed all the incoming animals. "Sorry to have to do this to everyone but we need to get this taken care of." With a deep breath Arcia started to call on her magic power. Continuing the song she had been singing before, one that had a slow tune to it Arcia poured her magic power into her words. As a songstress Arcia had the power to use her songs to apply various effects based on the feeling of the song, her current song was making everyone in the vicinity start to fall asleep. Not only were her fans starting to get drowsy, but the the approaching monsters too. Having to sing the song at such a high strength in order to effect all the animals, Arcia wasn't able to pick and choose what was effected.
The Wasps and bears were the first of the approaching creatures to fall into a deep slumber at the sound of the songstress' music. However, the Coeurls with their naturally higher magic resistance were barely even sleepy. Arcia wasn't alone however. Both Fay and Pris were gifted mages and while the song may have put everyone else to sleep, they weren't even groggy due to their own natural magic kicking in to prevent the mystically induced nap.
"Well girls, looks like Iris is keeping most of them busy for us," Mika called out as she came from backstage. "Rin's out like a light thanks to this song so it's just the three of us to deal with those cats while Iris keeps the rest of them asleep."
"Wisp, you ready for this?" Fay asked the small esper of light that she housed in her body.
"How can I help?" Pris asked, with so many people she around her she couldn't unleash her magic and without a weapon she'd be pretty useless against the claws and magic of the Coeurls.
"Use the guardrails," Mika suggested as she herself magically cut out a makeshift staff from the metal barrier. Pris on the other hand was able to rip a section off that would suffice as a weapon. "Just knock them out, once they're down we can let the zoo staff deal with them, even after Iris stops singing the song's effect will hold the others long enough to get them back to their cages."
Together the three women went about knocking the magical cats out. Fay took to the skies with her white wings and would send out bolts of pure light magic at the Coeurls. While they had a high magic resistance, they weren't immune to it. The rays of light were distraction enough that Pris and Mika were able to run up and give them a good thawk to the head to render the felines unconscious. In no time at all they had managed to incapacitate the entire group of Coeurls and round up the sleeping animals to make the zookeepers' jobs easier when they woke up.
"First time you come to my concert and it's a bust," Iris said as she ran over to the group. "I'll have to make it up to you at some point."
"It's alright Iris, I was glad that I got to hear at least two songs live. Besides, today was fun and I'm sure that we'll both remember it."
"To insure that the queen of forgetting remembers it, how about a photo with your favorite singer Pris?" Mika asked as she produced a camera from her back pocket. Iris, still fully in her Arcia look moved over to stand next to Pris, wrapping her arm around the still white haired girl. Pointing it out to them, Mika quickly returned Pris' hair to her original color so that when she showed the photo to other people it'd actually look like she was in it and not some other girl.
"Once we get it printed I'll sign it for ya to if you want," Iris offered. Captured in the photo was Pris and Arcia standing in front of group of sleeping people, bears, and giant wasps.
Post-Author's Note: So yeah. That happened. Once you're done vomiting rainbows I'll explain just why this exists. While Jade WAS already producing this one shot, the reason why it is posted in this account is not what you may think. You see, after An Unending Struggle ends, it will be followed up by An Unending Stream. However, this story is a fullblown second gen story, not the half-half The After Years was. In short, I either cluttered the first part of the story horribly to show all the characters, rushed and made it so you didn't get any of the characters, or I made it so slow most of you would fall asleep.
Because of that problem, I created An Unfinished Scrapbook. A fic that takes place between AUS1 and 2, and is a series of one shots, ones more slice of lify, ones more adventury, that serve to ease you into the characters. Expect to have some more one-shots of different authorisms pop up before AUS2 is released, maybe even after.
As for authors, I'll do some obviously, however, jade already has some on the line, and, if any of you has the time/want to write I'll gladly post it here and give you all the credit in the world. It doesn't have to be about the second gens either, it can be something as random as Gilgamesh's road to his cooking emporium from AUS1 to 2. Anything that fits the AUS timeline can be posted here!
Sheesh, that one was big. Anyway, expect the next one shot on Jade's birthday. When that is, you'll have to find out yourselves! Back to Normalcy I go!