Co-written by miss mika namariya! We own nothing!

The witches left shortly after dinner, and after one last attempt at getting Kyoko to join them. When ultimately she refused, they left her with instructions for contacting them. Fern gave the prince a none-too-subtle nudge and "hinted" that she expected a wedding invitation.

Unfortunately, the so-called instructions were symbols that Kyoko doubted even Moko could read. Before she had a chance to tell the witches that she couldn't understand the inked-up scroll, they had flown away.

"Well." Kuon said, staring into the sky, watching their silhouettes vanish, "That was a thing."

"Ribbit!" Sir Hoppington was very pleased. He'd had a lovely conversation with the familiars, and had been able to complain to some two-leggers who could understand his plight!

Kyoko didn't respond, which prompted Kuon to look at her (not that he ever needed a reason). He blinked, then blinked again to make sure he was seeing things right. Kyoko was glowing. No, wait — those were fireflies. Why were there so many fireflies? And why were they surrounding Kyoko? Why were they landing on her? Should he do something?

Kyoko met his gaze and shrugged helplessly. "We're in a wild forest?" she offered.

Sir Hoppington leapt gleefully from his tank and began to feast. The fireflies scattered pretty quickly after that, but they did have a frog-shaped night light. Sir Hoppington's stomach glowed.

LINE BREAK

The next day, after a night of what was definitely not cuddling and was definitely just them keeping each other warm, thank you very much, they were back to traveling through the forest. And Kuon had questions. Lots of questions. Of course he did. He just found out that his beloved was a changeling, along with finding out that witches were real. So it was only natural for him to have questions. The only problem was the question of how to bring them up.

He glanced sideways at Kyoko. Since they were in a forest, Kyoko had insisted on walking side-by-side, saying that it was better for the wildlife than walking in single file. He was finding the pointy ears a good look on her. A very good look on her. The extra-sharp teeth were also very attractive — perhaps worryingly so. Kyoko already had enough sharp things; she didn't need her teeth to be sharp, too. Except that she looked adorable when one of her newly sharp teeth caught on her lip.

Oh. She had a leaf in her hair. It must've gotten stuck when she ducked under a branch. He plucked it out of her hair and twirled it between his fingers. "So…."

"Hmm?" Kyoko glanced up at him, the sunlight filtering through the trees making her golden eyes look molten.

Distracted, he lost his nerve. "Nothing. Nevermind." He turned away to hide his blush.

"Okay?" She shrugged to herself and went back to scanning the forest for danger.

Not two minutes later, he tried again. "Uh, about the — nevermind."

"What?" Kyoko turned her head to look at him.

"It's nothing." He shook his head and kept walking. He shouldn't pry.

"Oookay?"

But he was so curious. So a few minutes later, he said, "Hey, so I was wondering…."

"Yes?" she asked, a little too sharply. Her teeth flashed.

"Nevermi—"

"No!" She whirled and was suddenly in front of him, feet planted in the dirt and hands on her hips. "No more! If you have something to ask, ask already!"

Damn, she was hot when she was annoyed. "It's really nothing —"

"No, it's not!" She poked him in the chest. That small bit of contact burned him in the best way. "I am not taking another step in these woods until you spit. It. Out!"

Flustered by her being so in his space during daylight hours, he blurted out the first question that came to mind. "Can you touch iron?"

She stared at him as if he was the stupidest creature to ever walk the face of the earth. Very slowly, very deliberately, she pulled out Princess Rosa and touched the blade.

In his container, Sir Hoppington slapped his face with his own foot.

"Anything else I can help you with?" she spat, far too acidicly.

"...Sorry," he whispered, looking very ashamed of himself. She nodded, and they started walking again in silence.

Really, she huffed internally. How stupid does he think I am? Like I'd just tell him all my weaknesses. I know better than that.

Her minions exchanged glances from where they were floating around the trio. [Uh, mama?]

What.

[He's… a friend. Like Moko, right? He's not going to use it against you.]

[Or tease you!] Another one piped up. [He's probably just curious. Because he's your friend.]

…Shit.

Which is how Kuon wound up prying a sobbing, prostrating Kyoko off the forest floor. After her initial hysterics were over and she'd calmed down, Kyoko gave a more coherent apology (which Kuon waved away, while internally swearing to banish whoever had been mean to her). The pair then spent the whole afternoon talking about changelings, witches, and magic in general. Sir Hoppington, content that his favorite two-leggers had made up, decided it was high time for a nap.

LINE BREAK

Sir Hoppington didn't wake up until the two-leggers made camp for the evening. While Kyoko went off to patrol the perimeter, Kuon decided to change quickly before bed. He'd worked up something of a sweat today, and he didn't want to be all gross during cuddle time — er, bedtime. So he pulled on a red shirt and sat down to get the fire going.

Kssssssh.

That was a weird sound. He looked around for its source and spotted it — a raccoon. Everyone's favorite trash panda had gotten into their bags and had somehow managed to rip the cork out of the champagne. Kuon stared at it blankly. What exactly were his options here?

One: He could let the raccoon have the champagne. This had the potential to be really funny (and boy was the raccoon guzzling it), and also would serve as a fun story to tell when people asked about the trip. However, while it probably wouldn't kill it, he didn't think alcohol was exactly good for racoons.

Two: He could fight the raccoon for champagne and risk getting scratched or bitten. While this would keep him from worrying about the creature, it could also lead to infection. And, as good as medicine was these days, he did not want to fight an infection in the forest.

Three: He could wait for Kyoko to get back and have her help him decide what to do. Yeah, that was probably the best option. She had way more experience with drunken wildlife than he did. Well, at least he assumed she did.

However, when Kyoko reappeared in the clearing, something happened that Kuon did not expect. She panicked.

"Prince Kuon?" she called out, scanning the clearing. She seemed to look right through him. Kuon looked down to check he hadn't gone invisible. Nope, he was still opaque. So why was Kyoko acting like she couldn't see him?

"Prince Kuon?" she asked again, louder this time. She didn't even seem to register the raccoon going absolutely ham on the champagne. "Are you — where are you?"

He stood up and waved at her, but she didn't respond.

Instead, she called out, desperately this time, "Kuon!"

"I'm right here!" He spread his arms wide and finally, finally, she saw him.

Her whole body went limp with relief. "There you are! Where did you go — oh." She was staring at his shirt. "Right. Of course." Before he had a chance to ask, she whipped around, hands in her hair in distress. "The champagne!"

Kuon watched, equal parts confused and amused, as Kyoko darted over and pulled the very drunk raccoon off of the bottle by the scruff of its neck. From his tank, Sir Hoppington scolded the raccoon for its highly improper behavior. The raccoon, far too drunk to understand what was happening, waved its little paws in the air, thinking it was flying.

Kyoko stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply. A small horde of forest animals emerged from the trees. "Here you go." She handed the wasted raccoon to its criminal brethren, who scuttled away with it in tow, probably to draw something crude on its face. Because raccoons are jerks. Adorable jerks, but jerks nonetheless. At least they know how to wash their hands.

"So…" Kuon said, as he went back to starting the fire. "Are we going to talk about what just happened?"

"Oh, the raccoon will be fine. It didn't get that much of the champagne. It'll just have a nasty hangover tomorrow, probably." She rolled her eyes and started assessing the damage done to their packs. "Serves it right, the little thief."

"That's good and all, but I was more talking about the you-not-seeing-me thing." He had no idea how to state it more tactfully. Years and years of diction training, wasted.

Kyoko turned pink and mumbled, "Yrweinged."

"Come again?"

"You're wearing red!" she blurted. "In a Wild Forest!"

"Which means…." He poked at the fire.

"That changelings and fae can't see you until you talk," she finished. Suddenly, she was down in the dirt at his feet. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think about how that would affect my duties and I should really be punished somehow for this grave oversight and you can whip me or stick me in a tree or —"

"It's fine!" He pulled her away from the fire and out of the dirt. "I was just confused, is all. Have I really never worn red around you before?"

"Not since we got into the forest." She shook her head and wiped away a few stray tears. "It doesn't — I can see people wearing it outside of the forest. But in here…." She gestured helplessly.

"Alright." He pulled off his shirt (completely missing the way Kyoko blushed) and went to put on another one. "No more red, then."

"You already spoke! You don't need to change!" She was not staring at his back as he dug through their packs.

"Better safe than sorry." Note to self: get rid of all the red in my wardrobe. He pulled on a new shirt and sat back down next to her.

Kyoko buried her face in her hands. Today was not going her way at all. First the shirt embarrassment, and then the raccoon drinking the champagne — the champagne! The witches had said the champagne would help find the prince's True Love! She shot to her feet.

"What?" Kuon blinked up at her from where he had been stoking the fire.

"I need to find that raccoon."

"...Why?"

"It might be your True Love in disguise!"

"Wh— no. No, it's not. Sit down." He grabbed her arm to prevent her from tearing off into the forest.

"How can you be sure?" she asked, waving her free arm around emphatically. "The witches said that the champagne would help us find your True Love!"

"No, they said it might help us." He tugged on her arm, trying to get her to sit. She didn't budge. "How strong are you?"

"Oh, I can bench-press a bear," she said distractedly. "But that's not important right now! What's important is that your True Love might be out there, confused and raccoon-ified!"

"Kyoko." He tugged again, and when she wouldn't sit, finally stood up himself. "Kyoko. Listen to me. Are you listening?"

"Yes," she replied, scanning the forest for any sign of the raccoon.

"Look at me." When she did, he said, "I am not, under any circumstances, kissing that raccoon."

She gasped upon hearing this incredibly reasonable statement. "But what if that raccoon is your True Love?"

Deep breaths, Kuon. "I just don't think my True Love would be the type of person to get transformed into a raccoon."

"Oh." She sat down. "Okay, that makes sense."

I'm glad it does to one of us. He sat down next to her, feeling like he had just escaped what would have been the most tiring night of his life. "Good."

"Ribbit," said Sir Hoppington. That raccoon had been so rude. How unbefitting of a member of a wild forest! Did it have no sense of dignity?

Kyoko leaned over and scooped him out of his tank so she could pet him soothingly. "There, there," she said, "the raccoon's gone. And yes, it was so uncouth. The prince is right. It could never be his True Love."

"Ribbit!"

"I guess we'll just have to keep looking."

Kuon was, in fact, looking at her.