Hey sorry for the huge gap in upload times. I have been busy with school work and getting all my stuff together for college. I will try to upload more often because in the next chapter is when shit starts going down!

Chapter 4:

Field Trip!

-time skip 3.5 years

"Hey Draco!" Alder called out as Draco walked by with Ketzil. "Y-yes sir."

"Do me a favor and take Pup on a trip to the town. I feel that she needs some time outside these walls."

"I'd be happy to." Ketzil butted in with his normal upbeat and slightly stand-offish attitude. Draco glared at him but Ketzil wasn't looking. "Um… ok then. Just take her into town and maybe introduce her to some of the children. She needs a friend or two." Alder kneeled down to Little Kitsune who had come to stand with him. "Draco is going to take you into town to see some things. You be good"

"I will." She flicked her tail in annoyance. She never really liked Draco's brother that much due to him always trying harder than he needs to as if he is trying to be better than his twin. Infect he came off as a kisses when she first met him. But she wouldn't dare say these things out loud.

Kitsune skipped happily beside Draco as he walked on the dirt trail to the town of Kale's Gulch. The walk was completely silent except for the sound of their boots on the ground. Once the trees started to thin out Kitsune could see a large stone brick wall that surrounded the Village to protect it from attacks and the dangerous animals that lived around here. As they approached she noticed guards standing on top of the wall with bows in their hands, as well as the guards at the gate to get in. They passed after showing their IDs to them and entered the town.

The roads here aren't gravel, they were actual stone, there were a lot of buildings across the town square where there was children running around and climbing on rocks. Draco led her across the square and over a bridge into the main part of the town. Ketzil pointed to a large tower in the distance that was made of bricks and had iron barred windows. "That's the Armory where we keep all the equipment needed for battle. Over there is the blacksmith." He gestured over to their left where a small shack with an overhang over a few furnaces, an anvil, and a large bulky man who sat there hammering away at a rod of hot iron. Probably making a sword, the ash covered man smiled and waved at Flame as she walked by. "Why don't you go talk to some of the kids over there while I check on an order with the smithy?" Draco pointed to a small open space across the road that had a couple rocks and a fountain where she saw 2 boys a little older than herself and a girl who was maybe the same age. "Ok" She said as she walked off.

"Hi!" Kitsune greeted the girl who sat on the fountain ledge looking at the flowers. "My name is Kitsu-"

"EW what are you wearing?" the girl interrupted. Kitsune looked down at her outfit. Gray dress, brown boots and a navy jacket. What's so bad about this? Kitsune looked at the girl. She wore a pale pink dress with a lace detail along the bottom and a gray vest. Her shoulder length sandy brown hair was partially pulled back with a pink bow. Oh… she is one of those flame thought as she watched her straighten her frilly dress. "I'm Rinnell… why do you wear those grody rags? Don't you want to look the least bit like a civilized woman?" Flame was shocked by her response. "These aren't grody rags." she said as she felt her jacket sleeve. "Might as well be trash. You look like you belong in the gutters." anger started to swell in flame as Rinnell commented on her slightly dirty military jacket. When she started talking bad about the military that as the last straw. Kitsune yelled "why don't you shut your stupid mouth!" and before Rinnell knew it she had been pushed into the fountain as Kitsune jumped in after her Draco and Ketzil had figured out what was going down and rushed to break up the fight. They jumped in and Draco grabbed Kitsune and Ketzil got Rinnell and they started to pull them apart but all 4 stopped when the loud bang of metal hitting stone. "Enough." Keto yelled angrily.

"What the hell is this!" he demanded as the children got out of the fountain. Mostly he was looking at Flame. Rinnell was the first to talk "I was enjoying a nice afternoon when that street rat pushed me into the water and attacked me."

"THAT'S BULL SHIT AND YOU KNOW IT YOU DAMNED PRICK! " Draco grabbed Flame as she lunged at the girl again. Rinnell crossed her arms. "It's not lady like to curse or to fight." she said. Keto looked at Draco, "Why is she here?"

"Commander Alder said I'd be good for her to get outside the base so I was taking her with me to see the smithy and do some errands." Draco explained as he held Flame. "Take her back, now. I'll send a report to Alder and you two's mentors. Rinnell go home" he said with frustration as he turned around. As Rinnell passed by she did something that shocked everyone, she dig her nails into Flame's jacket sleeve and ripped it off then carelessly tossed it into the mud. Then without any thought and a with one flawless single movement Kitsune placed her hand on Rinnell's jaw then pushed backwards as she used her left leg to kick the girl's legs out from underneath her. The force made the lightweight Rinnell flip backwards then in mid-air Kitsune thrusted her elbow into her chest making her fall hard to the ground and land on her shoulders then continue to do a painful summer-salt where she stayed. Her shocked scream made Keto turn around, but as he did Draco grabbed Flame and held her under his arm like one would hold a bag of grain as he took off running. Ketzil followed close behind after he picked up the sleeve from the mud.

The next day meant punishment for the 3 of them. First thing Draco, Ketzil, and their mentors Swift and Grant, as well as little Kitsune Flame were called into Alder's office. Keto was there, shit though Draco as he entered the office. It was silent, not a sound, Alder sat at his desk reading the report and Keto leaned against a bookshelf. "Alder I'm fine with that child living here but could you please not teacher those kind of moves." Keto said after a while. "I didn't teacher that. I don't teach those kind of moves, that's a mentor thing." Alder replied immediately. "Ok so here is your punishments: Draco, you will be put on night watch for a week and restricted to the base for 2 weeks. Ketzil, you will be put on stall cleaning detail for 3 weeks."

"But, sir that's not fair I had nothing to do with this! It was all Draco and Flame!"

"With the amount of shit I get from you it will be good experience if you get some shit yourself." the comment came from Alder before Ketzil knew what was going on. "As for Kitsune you will be restricted to the house for 2 weeks." The young girl said nothing. She had abandoned her ripped jacket in a trash can after the fight, she didn't want to look at the desecrated uniform nor have it repaired. "Alder I don't want to see her in the town anymore." Keto said as he left, slamming the door behind him.

-Pov- Ketzil

Why am I punished for breaking up a fight? Kept thought as he cleaned the horse stalls. It's not like he even trains us anymore. I work my ass off and I'm still a lower rank than Draco! It was a well-known fact that Draco was gifted when it came to fighting, Ketzil on the other hand is often overlooked in that field. Though he worked hard the golden wolf couldn't catch up to his twin brother. "All that hard work… what do I get? I get shafted that's what." Ketzil complained under his breath as he dragged in a bail of straw to spread in the stall. "Ketzil quit complaining." his mentor Swift called as he walked in to check on Ketzil. "You should have heard the BS Keto was telling Me." he continued as he left. Alone once again Ketzil got back to work. Don't get too comfortable Draco I'm going to take that top spot then they will see who is better. He promised himself as he finished the last stall.

-Pov- Kitsune

The only part of her punishment that stood was her restriction to base camp. Alder thinks the fight was not out of turn but was inappropriate. Now Kitsune sat in the dog training center with Cacti, the now retired hunting dog due to a broken leg, he tripped on a tree root and the injury forced the hound into retirement. After the visit Kitsune was walking home as she admired the trees, now turning golden and red with the first signs of fall. The air was growing chilly as well and soon the young girl would be forced to either get a new jacket or have her's fixed by Luna. I don't want to bother her right now, she is so busy with Colin and the shop… she was torn from her thoughts as a small sleek shape dashed by her feet followed by some of the hunting hounds, the shape climbed up a nearby tree safely out of reach from the snapping jaws of the young dogs. "Heal!" Kitsune growled as she grabbed their collars. The two dogs whimpered as her drug them away from the tree. "You should know better, especially you Marco!" she scolded the gray wolf. He barked in return. "I don't want to hear it. Go back to your home… Now!" she pointed down the road and the dogs obeyed. They walked with their heads down and their tails dragging on the dirt road. When they were gone Kitsune Flame looked up into the tree the shape had climbed. There was nothing there, must have ran while I had those two… whatever it was it is smart.

Once she was home Kitsune sat down and opined her favorite book, Legends of the sky and void, it talked about the ancient myths of the End and had old folk lore about dragons, magic, and gifts from the stars. It wasn't until late when Alder got home looking worn out as usual. "Fuck" he breathed as he took off his jacket and hung it on a hook beside the door. "That bad?" Kitsune asked. "It was an assessment day"

"Ouch" she replied

"Out of 40 kids only 25 passed….. Keto has been on my back all afternoon."

"Who rammed a stick up his ass?" Alder laughed and patted Flame's head and went to the kitchen. "Back in my day Keto was that kid everyone thought would drop out and become a hippie or something… but nowadays I wish he would just lighten up." Alder made his supper and ate then went to bed leaving Flame alone in the main room to read. She pet her fox doll witch she had named Kasai. Kasai was made by Luna out of scrap gray fabric but as of recent had been damaged when a trainee took the doll and threw it over the fence of the base and into a thorny tree. Kitsune thought she had lost her only toy but it was returned to her by a strange lady in a dark gray hooded cape, in exchange for a knife that young Kitsune Flame found in a hollow of a tree. But the strangest thing wasn't the lady or the oddly made knife, it was the little red wings that had been sewn on to the back of Kasai. The fabric looked like fire and was by far the strangest fabric she had ever seen...

A scratching sound called Flame's attention to the front door where she saw a small figure move swiftly in the window. The young girl put down her book and picked up a kitchen knife then made her way to the door, opening it slowly and only enough so that she could see outside. By this time it was very dark outside and the fact it was a moonless night didn't help. She saw nothing through the small gap in the door so she opined it up a little more… still nothing. Weird… there's no wind so it wasn't a leaf… Movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye. A small slender shape moved stealthily along the side of the house crouched low. Kitsune opened the door all the way and the light from inside spilled out onto the front porch and made the creature freeze mid-step. It had a small skinny body with a long tail, narrow head with pointed ears. And had the most beautiful blue-is gray fur and deep blue eyes she had ever seen. Is that a cat? Flame had only seen pictures of these small agile animals, for they only lived in places with jungles. The cat pinned its ears back and backed up a few paces then sat down.

"Hey thanks for calling off those dogs." a girl's voice made Flame jump.

"Who is there?" Flame growled. The cat tipped its head to one side.

"I am right here child. Me the cat!" the voice said as the cat stood up. "I would have presented myself in a different form if you hadn't discovered my location so quickly."

"What are you talking about?" Kitsune asked as the gripped the knife. Before she even knew how to react the cat leaped up and did a backflip but it landed it had two feet instead of four paws. Flame looked up slowly, a pair of human feet with makeshift shoes made of animal hide, a short pleated blue skirt around the hips with an odd gray shirt that fit snuggly around the chest but made a upside-down V that showed her belly and flared out in the back into two long tails like some jackets have for the look of it, the shirt came up high on the neck and was sleeveless with a blue stripe down the middle and along the edges with an arm band that had an almost hypnotic design on it. It is a girl, and a very pretty one at that with soft pale skin and enchanting blue eyes and shiny long black hair that went down to just below her hips with jagged unkempt bangs in her face.

"Name is Mimi Kuroku." the girl placed one foot behind the other and bowed and had her hands out to her sides in a very proper curtsy.

"Kitsune Flame" she replied.

"Well then young Kitsune Flame, I am on a quest that has taken me on a long journey from the jungles of Hundotu here to the town of Kale's Gulch in the Territory of Twin Rivers." Mimi said softly. "I am here to help a legend in the making find her true power to fight for the rights of others who have been wronged…. But for now I can settle as a healer's apprentice."

Flame looked at the girl for a while trying to understand what just happened.

"Ok here to help you out I'll tell you how I went from being a cat to a human girl: I was born into a tribe called the Nekomoto, in summary I am what you would call a 'magic cat'. I have the ability to wield the elemental auras at will in a fight or use those powers to heal others. Basically, I do magic." Mimi explained as Flame let her inside the house. After talking for some time they agreed on a plan so Mimi could serve as an apprentice for Luke, the town's only healer, under the name "Kuro" while living a double life as Kitsune's cat. They came up with the background that would make Mimi appear to be a nomadic healer's child that has chosen to settle down in this town to learn more about healing after her mother died. This cover story is to keep the leader Keto from banning Mimi from the territory for being magic. Ever since the exile of notorious criminal Wildfire Kale's Gulch has forbid any use of magic or aura abilities unless the user is a sorcerer, the ones who enchant weapons and armor for battle.

By the time they were done talking the girls went to Flame's room where Flame made Mimi a cat-sized bed out of an old blanket and a winter scarf and set it on the foot of her bed. Mimi shifted into a cat again and curled up in the makeshift bed to sleep. Flame then got into bed and curled up at the top as she normally did and laid her soft fluffy tail over her face.

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Like I said there may be some time between this chapter and the next. In the next chapter there's a lot going on that will lead to the event that lights the path for the rest of the story! I know I'm excited!