Teen Titans – Side Stories and After – Snippets; Foxes Upon Foxes and Magical Girls Galore
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Ron; A Wandering Fox Without a Shrine.
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"Act one; the curtain draws –
"Ow! Quit hogging all the cushions, Ronnie!"
"Sorry, Tabs. I'm a little plopped over in the corner – you could stand to…"
He stopped that sentence. She swatted him and took back the embroidered shag pink pillow with a mighty snap of her manicured fingertips.
"I hope you don't have ex – girlfriends that want you to "break a leg," idiot." She huffed as Ron easily took the hit as a "don't talk about my weight as if you can hurt me, because it can."
"Tabs, why not see a movie out –
"And have everyone in LA fawn over you? Or what about that Manhattan show; where your hair was nearly ripped out, and sold online by a bunch of fan – girl, lunatics!" She was worried that if Ron went to the theatre to see the same genre of films, he'd have to figure out how to save himself.
She didn't know about his fox of lightening self, or that he wasn't even human. Ron had traveled before and so far, these two cities spoke to him the most.
Plus, the Titans were close by. After running into Aria in London's zombie dance hall (this is after the to the future arc, years later I'd say,) Ron had promised his mumsy to have his eye on the Titan's leader.
Robin was, going through a transformation at best. As a guardian like his allies and Vee most of all, Ron felt that being aware of the power – source's strength could in fact change the council's minds. Whether they erased him or not, Ron was…. pretty sly at times. He always had one foot in the door.
He was a musician in this time. Rock, and he could play a mean guitar solo.
Tabs (or Tabitha) had been at one of his first shows, yet she didn't treat him like a rocker. A, man…As if she could ask for so much more but…. wasn't willing to make him feel so downcast. Yet she was human, he'd have to leave her too…
He'd just have to stay single, then. She was great company when he was feeling down. Half his songs were due to her support.
"I want to try to get some sunshine before the new me goes deaf and blind." Chuckled Ron as he snickered back at his companion.
"I'm going too." Tabs declared and went to grab her bag from the side rack.
Her Hollywood heeled black boots hit the wood as she walked back over to Ron to get him to follow.
"I'll find a better way to keep you all to myself." She pecked him on the cheek as the two made their way out to the pavement.
/
The roads were clear, so they decided to take the scenic route.
After seeing nothing on the tube that day, there had to be something fun to do in the city of angels while summer was in full swing.
"Any ideas?" Ron asked Tabs as she typed away on her cell to find the perfect location to relax on their day off. Well, he'd be on in five - at eight tonight. They had a little time before Ron's showing.
"We could…. oh!" Ron's face broke out into a grin. He pointed at the perfect spot.
A beach, without a soul on it due to the time on day.
"I don't have my –
"We can go to the shop for some before it gets too crowded. Sounds like a way to play it safe?"
"Is the Aussie in you trying to teach me to surf, this time?" Tabs giggled and playfully punched her Bf in the shoulder.
"That is, if you think you are able to keep up. Then, yeah. Right about it, and I'm not an "Aussie…New Zealand, Sheila." He joked, correcting her and earning a scowl from sensitive Tabs. "Don't ruin it. You and I are going. Hands down. BEFORE another one of your jokes changes my mind.
He shrugged and off they flew to gather up a plan. At least she wasn't like Aria. Make her cry and she'd drown you in an ocean of your own nightmares….
/
That, was a few years back. Ron later, wandered the country to look for someone who knew what it was…What he'd been searching for.
A village in Guatemala. He'd taken the road to it as a seeker of truths. After Sayu had betrayed the Titans of earth and had…transformed, he was afraid to become her. So, Ron went on a vision quest of sorts. He traveled, meditated, and tried to find his center in the universe again.
He was here, to see into the past. A healer in the place he'd been staying had explained that in his current role, he was nothing but a stray form of life. A lightening ally that had yet to reach its resting place. He had left behind his home, his parents, and….
His council amid the Celestial and Eternal branches.
Ron was a soul that wanted to seek out his true purpose. This place housed this miracle; he'd have to climb a long way to seek his own truth. There were big cats, snakes and mighty plant species to test his all in this body. On this plane, his powers could not help him.
He was against the elements, and thus…
/
To the further future….
Ron was watching over Aiden as the kid stayed asleep over his classwork. A desk was a nice place to take a nap, if you wanted to stay out of school for one.
~Are you spying on him? ~
Ron turned in his fox body to spy another of his kindred.
~I am, trying to make sure he's fine. Nothing to fret over –
~Except, you are being way too attached. ~ Kay's airy form was as a soft cloud. The tree outside was tall enough, yet he veiled his presence anyway.
Ron just used an enchantment to have others see a squirrel instead of a magical creature.
~ Vee told me about Aiden's magic. ~ Kay sighed into his hands and saw Ron's lightening tail twitch with impatience.
~Yeah. He has the light of a solar relic, that we saw through. Yet, his sisters were stronger. As if he'd be –
~The one they're willing to protect. Power -sources are sacrifices. It is our job to prevent their deaths –
~And why's that, anyway? Eh? ~ The lightening pup asked.
~Is Aiden fated to fight Roku without being able to defend himself? We tried to seal him. Kay, I don't think –
~ Roku, chose this fate…Aiden is the last Chosen who can undo the damage the dragon's rule has caused. ~
Kayu looked up at a passing cloud. ~ It's going to rain, tonight. You could always –
~The chance of a thunderstorm is quite high, ~ Huffed the other fox, his tail up in Kay's face.
~ It brought us here…~ Ron snorted. ~Yet, I don't have to take orders from a turn –
~ I'm the one keeping the Titans from losing themselves to the council's riots . ~ Snapped the white youbi in his true form to his golden - furred brother.
~Kayu, look…just keep away from the kid. He's not like, the others. ~
~Are you a human's pathetic guard dog, or did you forget what our true mission is ? ~ Kay snarled at his half brother with a serious glance below the pack leader's Celestine white fur.
~ Sayu could send her scouts to Earth; they can take them all away, and I don't want to be the one to… ~ Kay grimaced at how Sayu COULD be. She was not just top dog; she was a warrior by rite. While he…followed in her footsteps without even trying.
~ Why do you think I left? You and Vee, you're polar opposites. ~ Ron studied the white fox as it was getting ready to float to the ground.
~ Think about what you are proposing. ~ Sighed the light-haired Celestial brother.
~ Why don't you stand up to mum, then? ~ Ron raised a brow, just to tick off his sibling upon his leave.
~ You act the socialite, yet beneath your trickeries is another face. A wolf. I'm more guard dog than you've ever been. ~
Seeing that Ron was serious, Kay chuckled as his appearance of a white fox returned to carry him off into the mist. ~ I'm not one to be bound to a single divide, you may one day leave this place…you are not its master. Do your job. Have Aiden realize this, or someone else will… ~
Even as Ron returned home that day to his flat, he still didn't like to believe that his ties to Sayu's bloodline were genuine. She'd sired Kayu with Lord Hanuman. He'd had a father, but had not known him. His mother, Aria, and Kay…they were ….and Vespa and Cliff or Esme. Right, and not to forget….
Sayu was the envious fox upon foxes type. She could flicker as flame, or set the sky ablaze at night as a dozen lightening bolts. Why he'd left, was to find himself. Yet, that journey had only just begun.
/
A shrine and a place to rest his feet. In the past, Raikou was his teacher. He was not Ron, but Rei. A simple ally to the resistance that was busy and far from done fighting Lord Roku, while his family was torn apart from all of the fighting…
As Rei ascended the stone steps to Lord Inari's shrine, a boy wearing blue and white seemed to be in deep prayer by the shrine boxes. Was he, lost? He looked to….
Define that, familiar was a fox's job. Slipping by the wards, he knew the god of rice. This wouldn't be long.
"Ah, I'd like to join you in prayer." Rei said this to gather the boy's attention. Long black hair and a set of stunning blue eyes. He was not from this country but….the west? His clothing was strange; a mix between the west and east. He was!
"Ah, by chance are you not from –
"I am sorry… I must be –
"Wait….wait….I do apologize. I'll make it up to you. Would you perhaps like something to eat? I know a wonderful shop just a street away –
"That is, really…" The boy felt his stomach gurgle out as he'd left his team to search for his next bite. There was a reason. The last upset of his power had gone out of control. His father had made contact and the villagers…They'd scared him. Thrown things and…..treated him badly. So, he was apologizing to the god of this land. He was going west, to seek his enemy and…
Another growl and the boy blushed red from the repeated assault.
Rei chuckled and simply thought it cute that the kid was acting so high and mighty. What was he? Fifteen? He was small for that age. Anyway…
"I won't be so brash, but your stomach seems to agree." Rei told the kid in earnest.
The boy frowned and gathered his pack. "Afterwards, I must find a path to the sea. I am meeting a friend, and cannot lose sight of my goal." His eyes became serious, up until his gut made a sound. Rei chuckled and offered to lead the way to the tea house in town. It was Japan to any outsider, but a blend of worlds existed in this one, so sometimes an era was different than the books a mortal might have written about that particular time.
"Now, that you are stuffed and on your way, might I again ask; what is your name? I'm Yasuno Rei. It's a bit feminine, though I'm actually a Kitsune in this time. Yourself?"
"I…. I am, R…Richard. Ainsley. The last son of the Ainsley clan of northernmost Scotland's spirit world and of…" He didn't want to say it, but felt that the spirit had been open and honest with him the whole time. Veravakumu would have said not to speak to strange creatures in broad daylight. He didn't want to be the thing he hated most, so Richard said something to clear the air.
"My other name is Rokuro; the son of Roku….and he is the one I am going to finally meet. He took away my old life's purpose and claims I must see him for what he is." The boy went on, speaking as if he were looking into the distance already. The image of bloodshed and battle about his mind.
"You carry a heavy burden for one so unsure of his own path." Rei shrugged and looked to a blue bird up in its nest. Spring. He'd not forgotten where the petals did fall along the forest path.
"I'm also just coming to terms with my family." Rei said to the young child.
"You have a royalty about you, that I did take note. On that path ahead through the pines, you'll see a ship. It will take you to your destination."
"That, you know of my quest?" Thee boy looked up, quizzically eyeing the fox in his off white monk robes.
Just as he looked so plain, he was actually more than Rokuro had expected.
The boy bowed to show his thanks as he shot off towards the setting sun. The sweets were enough to brighten his day. The grey had been left behind at the shoreline, but not before Rei had called back out to shout out over the waves and their song;
"Tell my cousin Verra that he is not forgotten! We support your revolution to the end, young prince –
Richard turned to see if the fox was there, but all he saw was a lightening fast eagle taking off into the forest trees.
/
Carrying that weight back then, he'd joined Sayu to preserve order. That Roku would never touch their secrets or allies again. Those hands had also belonged to his children. Richard had been traumatized by the daemon's wishes, and he'd been forced to die as a result of his unsteady breaking point.
Raku was allowed to live, while everyone else…
Seemed to pity the ground he now walked while they slowly faded into nothing. Alicia and Arianna had existed and still stayed in their vessel's bodies. Rokuro? Richard? They didn't exist anymore.
Heck, even Loralei Ainsley had lived inside her vessel of Sakurano Ayane.
Ravenna?
But, Rokuro? Richard? Had gone back into the void to rest in peace…
/
"Ron? Wake up!"
The dog looked up to see a face so startled by his presence, that he'd wanted to make sure the one standing above was genuine. They were young still, not as experienced as the guardians.
"Kay...Why am I-
"You had a spell, was quite a dozy." Greg stated this and sipped a cup of his home brewed tea to make a point.
"You…are still with us…" The sofa was ok, but Shoji's pad was not a safe - house for wayward souls.
"I'm better, but I fear you've been unable to keep your powers with all that has happened." Greg nodded and Kaien snorted at the idea of Ron getting cold feet on life.
"You are'n bein' realistic." Kaien countered. "Ronald? Why did you suddenly forget ta' land on your feet?"
"I, had a dream just then –
"Preacher?" Kay raised a brow and had Greg fill up his cup. "I thought you were more in control of your magic than I was. Or Aria! That's why Mum sent you to watch over them."
"I…. burn out, daytime. Not a storm during the dry period. Have to get back to Maui…." He sniffed. "I want the sea at my back…miss it."
"Since when?" Kai thought that this was a strange confession.
"Have him up to juice it." Vee turned to Greg as he'd finished heating up a special curative to have Ron as his old self.
"Done. Make sure to wear gloves, Verra. That is my last supply of electrum for the month."
"Are you drugging a god, boy??" Kai gawked at the bubbling brew as Kay mixed it with some water. Vee held up Ron's head as it looked like he'd gotten low sugar. But no. Gods were a different breed than elementals.
Like walking rechargeable batteries, he needed a boost.
"We are there for ya, but you…don't have to go so far for one –
"He's…. powerful, without them, he's confused…" Ron grumbled as he sat up. "Electrum, how'd you know about it?"
"This world has ways, maybe." Vee tried to look distracted by another thought.
Ron didn't ask; Vee and Kay were technically the oldest, so their methods were without a doubt, a bit unethical. Maybe Ron was the old goat in this pack of boars and cattle.
"Do you need another minute?'' Kaien asked his nephew, who shrugged off his uncle's sympathy rather quickly.
"Me? I have a gig to ride to. You'd not stop a dead – walker if ya tried it." He grinned at his team, now at full strength. "Then, you were at low charge…."
"Because, you didn't get on stage –
"I wasted my last supply on you! That was sneaky!" Greg snatched up the left-over potion and groaned.
"I still appreciate the pick me up, mates!" Shying from his fam to the door, he rushed away to catch his ride. There were screaming fans here in California. He didn't want to see their spirits drop.
/
To the present, he'd watched them grow.
At least Aiden was better at controlling his magical fire. Anna was still sticking it to the marines. Ami was in Tokyo, and Ava was waiting to become queen of a snowy wonderland it seemed.
Dick and Kori were still overprotective, sort of. A new addition to the Grayson – Anders clan had rocked the boat.
Raku. And it was a time to consider finding a new position on this plane while he still had hairs on his head left!
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