Hello and welcome to the lovely chapter two! I have no idea what I'm doing! Yeah! (smashes her head into the keyboard) Okay, no, seriously, um, I don't like what's happening right now and I'm mad that I can't watch Danny Phantom whenever I want to and it doesn't help that some guys just totally piss me off!

Ahhhg! Anyway, please, please, please, please, please tell me what you think! Trust me, this first installment of 'Melody in Red' may seem pretty lame but I have huge, macho, awesomely cool plans for a sequel that will rock your socks onto your head! But first, we have to get through the first one…

Two: A Fox's Tail

"You're name is Sam?" Amethyst asked, following the Goth girl down the street, "Are you Danny's mate?"

Sam's face went beet red but she was walking in front of Amethyst so the fox-girl didn't see.

"No…! We're just…really close friends, that's all." Sam glanced over her shoulder to see Amethyst starring around at her surroundings, "You're different from the other ghosts; they all know about technology and modern day stuff. You're totally clueless."

"I'm not like the other ghosts. No Yokai is." Amethyst turned her attention back to Sam, violet eyes flashing, "We've never left the Ghost Zone before and we try not to; our affairs mean little to your world or the rest of the Ghost Zone."

"Why don't you leave?"

"We're too busy fighting. That's all we really know. In the deepest, most secretive pits of the Ghost Zone we battle out our wars and they're places I suggest you and your halfa friend stay away from…! It's a death trap to anyone else." Her grim features became a sneer, "Of course, just because we don't leave doesn't mean we don't hear news. Every Yokai Ghost Clan member has heard of the infamous half-ghost, half-human but I never expected it to be a little boy…!"She sounded a little awed even though her face was screwed up into a smirk.

"So…" Sam pushed open the door to her house and ushered Amethyst inside, "What exactly are you? I mean, you keep talking about these Yokai Ghosts but…what exactly is a Yokai Ghost?"

"I am a Yokai Fox, a Demon Fox." The red-head replied, following Sam up a flight of stairs, "Like I said, we live in the deepest parts of the Ghost Zone, where we've fought wars for centuries for no apparent reason, and where even some of the most powerful ghosts don't dare venture. There are twelve tribes of Yokai and many, many sub-clans to all of those. But every race of Yokai has the ability to go from animal to this," She waved a hand at her human form with a slight note of disgust in her voice, "And that makes us all the more dangerous. There are, however, a few clans who refuse to fight and put their skills to more, shall we say, productive means."

"What're the twelve tribes?" The duo moved down a long stretch of hall.

"Hold on, I'm getting there, the twelve tribes are based upon the twelve animals of your human world Chinese zodiac: the horse, the rooster, the dragon," She began ticking them off on her fingers, "the rat, the boar, the bull, the ram, the monkey, the dog, the rabbit, the tiger, and the snake. I am part of the Yokai Dog Tribe; sub-clan Yokai Fox…the last surviving member it appears." Her voice dropped into dejected tones and Sam felt a little sorry for her.

"Here, you can have this room." The Goth girl opened a door to a spare bedroom and Amethyst stepped slowly inside, looking this way and that as though looking out for enemies before sitting down on the bed. Sam flopped into a chair by the wall.

"Our mortal enemies were a very low sub-clan of Yokai Tiger, the Yokai Tabby Clan." Amethyst continued her tale without any prompting, apparently too caught up in her feelings to care, "They basically have the appearance of ordinary human world house cats but are extremely jealous, easily angered, and always power hungry. We've been fighting them off our territory for a long time but they made a temporary truce with the Yokai Lion Clan and overpowered us. My father was determined I should make it out alive." Her eyes sparkled and she clenched her fingers so tightly around the blankets folded neatly on the bed that her knuckles turned white, "But as we escaped a Yokai Tabby caught up with us and attacked. The fight dragged out for days, both sides weakened, eventually somehow making it into your world…where Danny seemed to have stumbled upon them."

"I'm…er…I…I'm sorry about your father…" Sam murmured, "Really…I bet Danny feels terrible too, though he'll never admit it."

"No," Amethyst shook her head, "I'd seek vengeance on them if I could but they're too numerous for me to manage alone. And I don't have the skills my father had. I was raised in a world of war and war is all I've ever known; the constant vying for power, the struggle to move up the chain…that was what I saw every day."

"Sounds like a rather violent version of our world…!" Sam snorted, getting to her feet, "Well, I suppose, it's first things first! Everyone's going to think you're a foreign exchange student or something so it's time to start acting like a normal high school kid!"

"Why do I have to act like a student?"

"Otherwise you'll stand out and that could be bad for you and Danny!"

"Like I care what happens to the halfa-boy!"

"You will when a ghost cat rips your head off…!"

Amethyst made a growling noise that sounded strange coming from a human girl. Sam rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

"First of all; no more growling, snapping, snarling, barking, biting, barring teeth, or anything that might relate to animal like activities! They'll lock you up for that! You have to act like a human!"

"I can't act like something I know nothing about!" Amethyst snapped back, "Yokai hate humans! Oops…" She put her hand over her mouth, cheeks turning pink, "Well, most of us do. The Yokai Foxes didn't…" Her hair fell over her shoulders, shadowing her face, "I should apologize for the way I've been acting since we've met. It's just that things have been happening so fast lately and I really don't know what to do about anything. I'm completely lost in this world; it's so strange to me; and I suppose I really do need your help fitting in." Violet eyes locked with lilac ones, "So I'm sorry for anything I've said that might have offended you or your friends and I'm asking for you help…Sam." Amethyst gave a small smile and Sam smiled back; she was still wary of the fox girl but not so much now. The Goth girl sighed and decided it was finally time to start the education.

"Alright, 'Blending In With Humans for Yokai 101'!"

----

Tucker and Danny waited nervously outside Sam's front door for the two girls to come out the next morning. Tucker nervous about whether Amethyst was going to rip his head off or not and Danny worried about if the ghost-fox had already done it to Sam. The front door opened and Sam walked out followed by Amethyst who had a black backpack decorated with spider-webs slung off her shoulder. She looked like a perfectly normal human girl. Danny and Tucker both sighed in relief, grinning, and Sam rolled her eyes; Amethyst looked at all of them in confusion. The four of them headed off down the street.

"So, maybe you should explain your situation to Danny and Tucker." Sam said, "Since, well, Danny's the one with the ghost powers and all."

Amethyst complied and told the two boys what she had told Sam last night. Danny was awfully sympathetic but Tucker still seemed wary and refused to walk beside the Yokai Ghost girl. When Amethyst questioned his actions, Danny and Sam both shrugged and said: "He's Tucker."

School was something else entirely. Sam had to convince the principal that Amethyst was visiting from over-seas and, though she would not be staying, was going to be studying at the school for the period of the time she was going to stay in Amity Park. Amethyst herself was unsettled about being around so many people and was tense all day. But it all fell apart very near the end of the day.

The four of them were walking down the hall, passing Dash and Quan, when Dash stuck out his foot and tripped Amethyst. The girl slammed into the floor, paper, books, and pencils flying across the tile. She groaned and Dash and Quan laughed, high-fiving.

"Amethyst, are you okay!?" Danny asked.

"Errrrhhhggg…!" The red-haired girl scrambled to her feet, glaring at the two jocks. Dash noticed her glower and scowled at her.

"You wanna go, New Kid!?" He shoved her and she stumbled backwards, "Come on! I'll take you down!"

"Leave her alone, Dash!" Danny shouted and then turned to Amethyst and his two friends, "Come on you guys, let's get out of here…!"

"Two-timing, Fen-turd!?" Dash sneered, picking up the black-haired youth by his pants and throwing him against the lockers, "That's low!"

Danny smashed into the lockers and landed on the floor with a groan. Sam and Tucker rushed to his side.

"Hey, Red-Head!" Quan grabbed the front of Amethyst's shirt, "What's your problem!? Don't got anything to say!?"

"Let go of me!" She snarled, pushing at his strong grip, "You stink! Both of you! Let…me…GO!"

"No one says I stink and gets away with it!" Dash shoved Quan aside, snatched Amethyst's jacket up and raised a fist to punch her in the face.

"What's going on here!?" Someone pushed their way through the crowd of kids forming a ring around the scene, "What's all this noise!?" It was Lancer and when he saw Dash holding Amethyst with a raised fist he went as white as a blank test sheet, "Mr. Baxter just what do you think you're doing with that foreign student!?"

"She-uh-I-uh…!" Dash let go of Amethyst and she landed on her feet on the floor, "Well, see, I was-!"

"He tripped me!" Amethyst growled, pointing at the blonde football player and there was a collective gasp from the other kids, "And then he threw Danny into the lockers!" She then pointed at Danny who was rubbing his arm where a purple bruise was beginning to form, "And then he," She pointed at Quan, "Grabbed me so I told him to let me go and then the Dash-boy shoved him out of the way and was going to punch me in the face!" She was absolutely furious but it was nothing compared to the way Lancer looked; he was livid with rage and ready to kill.

"Dash Baxter! I want you in my office right now! And bring your friend with you…!" And he stalked off. As Dash and Quan followed him, Dash glared back over his shoulder and mouthed the words: "I'll get you" before disappearing. The other students dispersed, murmuring about the red-haired foreign girl who had the guts to stand up to Dash. Danny, Sam, and Tucker all rushed over as Amethyst began scooping up her belongings.

"That…was…incredible!" Tucker gasped, eyes sparkling with awe, "That was the most amazing thing I've seen in all my school life!"

"I can't believe it!" Danny cried, slapping Amethyst on the shoulder, "You stood up to Dash and got him in trouble! Two things I've been trying to do for the longest time…!"

"I don't understand, what did I do that was so amazing?" The ghost fox tucked her belongings under her arm and the group continued down that hall.

"Lancer listened to you! A student! About Dash!" Sam exclaimed, "Lancer always believed that Dash could never do wrong! I can't believe he actually listened to you and got Dash into trouble!"

"Is that Dash-boy a problem?" Amethyst inquired, "Does he do things like that often?"

"All the time…!" Danny muttered over Tucker who sounded like he was chanting halleluiah, "I'm his main target; not a school day has gone by where he hasn't at least punched me, tripped me, kicked me, stolen my books, ruined my homework, made me eat something gross, shut me in my own locker, thrown me into something, tied me to my desk, hung me from the flagpole, stuck gum in my hair, or publicly humiliated me in any way shape or form."

"Why don't you do something about it then!?" Amethyst's violet eyes burned as she rounded on him and the other three stopped short, "You're the halfa! You have powers! Do something about the blonde boy!"

"Well…see…" Tucker stepped up to the plate this time, "It's kind of a secret that Danny's…you know…got ghost powers." He whispered the last words, "And we kinda' wanna keep it that way."

"But why?"

"Because most people around here don't really like ghosts." Sam said, "And that's putting it lightly…!"

"Let's go home," Danny ran his fingers through his black hair, pushing it out of his face, "I've had enough excitement for one day…!"

The other three nodded in agreement and followed the flood of students leaving through the front doors, many of them were starring at Amethyst and whispering behind their hands. This was exactly what Danny Fenton had not wanted; the Yokai Ghost Fox girl getting a lot of attention.

Next time on 'Melody in Red'

Tucker: Whoa! Danny, I think you need to watch where you're going with those light poles; you almost took my eye out…!

Danny: Sorry Tuck, I'm trying to jazz this place up a bit! It's so boring! We need party lights and music and disco balls!

Sam: Bad feeling here guys…!

Jazz: Danny, what're you doing?

Danny: Jazz! What're you doing here!?

Jazz: I don't know, I opened my bedroom door and I showed up here…! What is this?

Tucker: 'Mirror Phantom'! You can do and say anything you want!

Sam: Almost anything you want! EmptyHeart's going to kill you Danny.

Jazz: Who's EmptyHeart?

Danny: Tch, yeah right! Like she'd kill Danny Phan-OH MY GOSH!! SHE'S GOT A KNIFE! TUCKER! SAM! SAVE ME!! AHHHHHHGGGG!!!

EmptyHeart: Why're you running Danny!? I just want to CARVE YOUR HEART OUT YOU LITTLE GHOST BRAT!!!!

Sam: It feels good to say I told you so.