Chapter Twenty Six- Anuli's Family

Junjie and Aurora stayed side-by-side as they ran through the forest. Aurora directed them through the trees and over rocks, searching for the fire fox demon. They found some scorched trees and a couple smoldering bushes along the way, making it easier to track Anuli. Junjie couldn't stop thinking about Anuli the entire way. Was she alright? Is she fighting that rouge shadow right now?

Was she even alive?

The two of them skidded to a halt when they heard the fighting. Aurora directed Junjie to the source of the noise. They carefully climbed over the rocks and peeked over, watching in shock.

The rouge shadow beast and the fox demon were indeed fighting. Both were snarling and snapping their jaws, slashing their claws, and tackling each other into the dirt. Junjie couldn't help but wince every time Anuli took a hit. But she was quick to retaliate. Both of the beasts were covered in bites and scratches and their fur was disheveled. The fox demon's eyes were a heated red, boring into the equally blood red eyes of the shadow before her. They attacked each other again and again, neither of them backing down.

"Shouldn't we help her?" Junjie demanded.

"You want to get tangled in with a demon and a rouge shadow?" Aurora asked. Junjie looked back as the fox demon blew fire at the shadow. "That's what I thought."

"But we can't just sit here." Junjie said.

"She'll be fine." Aurora assured. "She's finally unleashing her wrath of losing her parents."

Junjie had nothing more to say. He had to use every ounce of willpower to stop himself from running out there into the fray.

The fox demon slashed her claws across the shadow's face, leaving deep marks. The shadow snarled and tackled the fox demon, sending them crashing into the dirt. The fox demon blew fire in the shadow's face before shaking it off. The fox demon and the shadow continued to exchange blows. Meanwhile, their battlefield was turning to ruin. Trees had broken, dirt kicked up, trenches everywhere, scorch marks like scars all around.

Then, the shadow got the upper hand. It fell to the ground and pretended to be dead. When the fox demon came to look, the shadow jumped up and bit into the fox demon's neck. The demon snarled in pain and fought to free herself, but her efforts were in vain. The shadow bit harder and harder until the fox demon slowly sank to the ground and was still. The shadow released the demon, growling with pleasure.

Junjie's claws dug into the rock. He growled and lunged, but Aurora tackled him to the ground to stop him. Unfortunately, that got the attention of the shadow, who started prowling towards them. Aurora pushed Junjie behind her and summoned a ball of energy, launching it towards the shadow. The shadow ducked and jumped for them. The two of them braced themselves.

Suddenly, the fox demon tackled the shadow. The demon bit into the shadow's neck so hard it broke. Then the shadow launched fire from her mouth at the rouge shadow. Junjie and Aurora watched with shock as the shadow burst to dust and blew away in the wind.

But the fox demon wasn't satisfied. She roared to the sky, wisps of fire still blowing off her fur and tail. She turned to Junjie and Aurora, still snarling. She didn't move towards them, but her furious look didn't leave those glowing red eyes.

Junjie started towards the demon, but Aurora held him back. "Junjie, maybe this wasn't the best idea. She's gone too far. What if you can't get to her and she hurts/kills you?"

Junjie's eyes never left the fox demon. "I have to try. For Anuli's sake." He slowly made his way towards the fox demon. The beast roared, sending fire over Junjie's head. The fox ducked to avoid being torched. "Anuli, it's me. I know you're still in there."

The beast roared, sending more fire.

"Anuli, stop it!" Junjie snapped. The fox demon paused, as though shocked that the elderly fox had used such a tone. "Now listen to me. I know what Aurora told you. That you didn't have a family and you'd always be an orphan."

"Sorry about that!" Aurora called.

The beast growled a little.

"Anuli, she was lying." Junjie continued. "She just wanted you angry so you'd change into this." He gestured to the fox demon's form. The fire wisps had stopped. "You're not an orphan. You have a family." The fox demon cocked her head to one side. "Siren's your family, right? And what about Shifu? Or Tigress or Shen or any of them? We're your family."

The fox demon growled a little, looking towards the ground. Junjie sighed. "That's not enough, is it? You need someone closer. I know how you feel. I never knew my parents. I never had any siblings, uncles, aunts, or anyone like that. I'm the last of my family as far as I know. But from the moment I met you, I knew I cared about you and your safety. And no, the connection isn't because you're part fox." The beasts raised an eyebrow. "Ok, that was part of the reason." The beast rolled her eyes, which were no longer glowing red but almost black.

Junjie took a few more steps forward until he was right in front of the fox demon. She didn't run or growl; she just stared at him. "Anuli, I've always wanted a family of my own. I wanted a child to raise as my own. But the whole kung fu life kind of got in the way. But you…you are already a magnificent fighter. I see so much of your mother in you." He gently paced a hand on the fox demon's muzzle. "I would love nothing more than to be a father to you. I don't know how well I'll do or if I'll do anything wrong. But I want to try. I want to make you a permanent part of my family." He gently stroked the fox demon's fur. "If you'll agree, then you can come home with me, and forever be known as my daughter."

The fox demon stared into Junjie's eyes for a long moment before sighing. Then, the demon began to change. Her fur disappeared as she shrunk in size. The fur on her head grew longer and went darker. Her skin went dark like the dirt around them. Her muzzle shortened and her teeth went a little less sharp. When the transformation was done, Anuli was sitting on the ground before Junjie. She still had her fox tail and fox ears, but there were some things different. Her long black hair, which used to be curly, was now perfectly straight with fiery orange streaks in it. There were three lines on either side of her nose to look like whiskers. She still had her red sundress on.

Anuli looked up into Junjie's eyes, deep brown on orange, before pulling him into a hug.

"Baba….." she whispered. "Yeah, that has a nice ring to it."

Junjie laughed and hugged her back. "Thank you."

Anuli smiled and stood. Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Aurora, Junjie, and Anuli's heads whipped to the mountain.

"Forgot about that." Aurora said.

"Who's this?" Anuli asked, gesturing to the red panda woman.

"Aurora." Junjie said. "We'll explain on the way to the mountain. They took off into the forest. Please don't be too late. Junjie thought. You just have to save her, Shen.