Fox on the Trail

"An old fox understands the trap" Anonymous

Sam returned to Pipers apartment after he was sure that she was safely onboard the airship to Fiore. He wanted to look over her apartment without her being there. He moved past the police crime tape. Once he shut the door behind him, he let his true for take over him. He grew slightly taller, his hair grew out to shoulder length of auburn waves, his fox ears appeared on his head instead of his human ones, his canines were more pronounced, his hazel eyes were shaped more like a fox's, his nails were longer, and his auburn fox tail with a white tip appeared. His senses were heightened now as he looked around the apartment again with better senses. He was able to pick up a scent around the broken glass. He looked at the destroyed terrariums and noticed that someone had cut himself or herself while breaking the glass. He could smell the magic that was used to disarm the security alarm. Tommy will be happy it wasn't a hacker. Damn shadow mage done something to it. He smelled a shadow mage and a seith mage as well as a normal guy in here. Must have been the one that was talking to Piper. Fucking drug lords, he knew she has told them no and he even reiterated it to them that she was off limits. Did they have a new boss in town? Gods he hope not. That's just gonna cause more headache and more bodies.

He transformed back to his normal human mage self. His human ears returned, short-cropped auburn hair. All his features back to looking like an everyday human. One person only knew what he truly was, and she was not in Sin any longer. She had moved on to another guild. He walked back to the guild from Piper's trashed apartment. He took note of the woman that was watching the place from the coffee shop a block down from the place. He took out his Lphone and sent a text to the heads of his guild divisions, The Eyes and Ears, The Fangs and the Tails. Shit was about to go down and he needed to coordinate a hit on the drug rings in West Nitespring. No one goes after his family and gets away with it. Besides Riko and Georgi were still 2 days out from returning, he needed to have his ducks in a row because those two would burn the city down looking for these scumbags.

Sam was trying to figure out how he was going to handle a shadow mage and a seith mage. He knew there was quite a few in West Nitespring that immigrated from Bosco a few years back when they outlawed the magic, but a lot of them are good decent mages. Nick had an aunt who was one he knew they weren't all bad. The sway of dark power can be powerful and turn anyone or the threat to someone you love will make a person do things they normally wouldn't. The Foxes didn't have any seith mages join or even inquire. He wouldn't have turned them away based on one country's laws. He liked to make judgements based on the individual.

Sam reached the courtyard of the guildhall, even though it was more of a short skyscraper. Beautifully built glass building that reached for the sky amidst the other glass giants on the edge of downtown West Nitespring. He walked into the doors to be greeted by his family that moved around in the building. He loved his guild. They were his family. He established this guild when the city started to have an industrial boom about 20 years ago. It was just an all mage guild at the time but after the Alverez war things changed not just in Fiore but in the world.

Sin was lucky enough to never have to have contended with Acnologia or the dragon slayers. Most people in Sin thought the slayers were more myth than real. It had its own issues with Pergrande trying to invade and take over the small peninsula country. Sin's Army, Navy and Rune Knights were spread thin during that time. They sent troops to Fiore but had to keep some back to push back Pergrande from their invasion attempt. This is caused mage guilds to collapse or have to combine. The Great Tribune came up with the idea to allow non-mages to enter mage guilds at the behest of the guild masters. Sam jumped at the chance to allow mundane humans into the guild. It bolstered his numbers and allowed him more access into the seedier places in West Nitespring.

Sam entered his spacious office, went to his modern styled desk, and took his seat. His assistant, Mariana Martin, came in with the heads of his division, Walker Gomez, Felix Garcia, and Zosia Kolwalski.

"Hey boss man." Walker greeted Sam with a hand shake. "Must be bad if you brought Zosia up here outta the gutters. I was beginning to forget how fine she looked." He said as he looked over at the tall lithe greenette.

"Shut it Walker, I've seen you plenty of times in those 'gutters' getting you wood polished." Zosia laughed. "Not my fault you couldn't find me." She winked at the big bald man.

"Would you two like us all to leave so you can fuck on the couch or maybe the boss's desk?" Felix said with a sly grin.

At the same time Walker and Zosia said, "Only if the boss says we can."

"Alright that's enough, you can get your freak on after this meeting and NOT in my office." Sam said with a laugh in his voice. He cleared his throat and got serious. "And you're right Gomez, shit got real. You remember Oscar and Georgia's youngest kid Piper?"

"Yeah…what about her? Doesn't she have her nose buried in books at the University? I see her jogging there every morning…" Walker started with a confused looked on his face. He led the Fangs. They were the main division of the guild. They did most of the jobs for the guild and backed up the law enforcement in the city for the mages. His division was meant to be seen. If Sam wanted to send a message to the Dark mage guilds trying to break the laws he sent in the Fangs to remind them that they couldn't do what the hell they wanted. There were laws to abide by. The Fangs were a rowdy bunch too. Walker himself was an explosion mage. He was a large man with bulky muscles. He kept his head shaved to show off his tattoos of a fox chasing its prey. He had many tattoos on him of various things. He was from Sin grew up in the streets until Sam came along and took him in and showed him how to harness his power. Now he does the same thing for the younger wild people in the guild.

Zosia spoke up, "No meathead. Don't you ever read you text messages. Of course not that requires you to be able to read." She laughed. "Piper Hatchet was attacked last night by an unknown group. Most likely a drug cartel to get her to come work for them to make a designer drug. She escaped but they trashed her apartment and killed all her pet snakes except one egg which she took with her. She is currently now an official guild member as our poisons expert and will take up that role when she returns from Magnolia, Fiore. She is under protective custody of Nick Sinclair and Tomacenia Warren until they reach Magnolia. Geez, Gomez get with the program." She winked at the bald man with her pale blue eyes.

"Bah it's your job to know what's going on before anyone anyway is it not beautiful? You are head of the Eyes and Ears." Walker pushed back with a wolfish grin.

"Oh course it is who do you think sent the text message? Santa Claus? I know lots about you that would make you blush like you like to bathe with a ru…" Zosia was interrupted when Walker lunged for her but her missed her when she teleported to where he was sitting, "rubber ducky. Quack quack big man. You're so adorable when you play in the tub he he."

"Sam, are you going to make them stop or just wait until they are naked?" Felix just rolled his eyes as he looked over at the two mages. He was much more subdued than his two counterparts he was head of the Fox Tails. They were the elite mages of the guild. This is the only division that was mage only because they dealt with the dark mage guilds or magic problems strictly plus they protected the people that were in high security areas like Tommy and Piper. Tommy was a mage and could hold her own in a fight with her tech magic but she had knowledge about the guild that would be a security breach if someone was able to subdue her.

"Come on Felix you can join us if you want too. Walker isn't shy are you baldy?" Zosia sniggered.

Sam just laughed and shooked his head. He loved when these three got together but hated it because they were so distracting when they didn't need to be focused. "Zosia is correct as always about what is happening with Piper, but I went to her apartment and was able to find a small amount of blood at the scene. Plus there was a woman at the café watching the place. I made sure she seen me. Zosia, make sure you get this out to the Eyes and Ears. Walker make sure the Fangs are ready to strike. Also Walker be prepared for Georgi and Riko when they come back to be in a really pleasant mood. Try to keep them from going nuts and stirring up the dark guild. And one more thing while I was there, I detected the magic of a shadow mage and a seith mage. Just those two types working together with a drug ring is going to be a bad day for everyone. Now if you guys need to go work off so energy before you get started be my guest, but not in here. I don't want it to smell like you three." Sam finished with a slight snicker as Felix rolled his eyes and left the office. Zosia just grabbed Walker and disappeared with the man to only they knew where.

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"Mamá, ¿sientes a esos magos seith allí?" Riko asked his mother, Georgia, as they sat on the upper deck of the airship. He hand getting a itching feeling to it as he started to tap his leg and flex his right hand. Seith mages made him twitchy.

"Sí y no harás nada." Hissed Gerogia. "One is just an old woman like me and the other looks no older than your sister. The third one isn't even a seith. Leave them alone Riko. Not every seith is a bad one. Riko just relax we are almost home and you can go see Piper and her little babies."

"Mama you are not an old woman. You are a beautiful woman in her late forties. That woman is old enough to be my abuela." Riko spat back.

"Are you talking back to your mother? Because you still aren't not too old for me to bend over my knee…" Georgia warned.

"No no mama…I was just saying how beautiful you are." Riko backtracked his word and placed a kiss on Georgia's cheek.

They had been in Midi for about a month tracking down a sand wyvern that was trying to make a nest near a little village. It was creating havoc for the villagers. Now they were on their way back to West Nitespring for a rest. Georgia didn't go on many mission anymore but Riko asked her to go on this one. He had told her Oscar, ex-husband and his father, wanted to talk to him, but he wasn't ready to yet. Georgia knew her son had a lot of issues because he was abducted when he was a teen by a seith mage and taken to Pergrande. The seith mage made him think he was in love with him and they ran away. Riko had figured it out the night the mage let one of the Pergrande guard have sex with him. The seith mage wasn't that powerful to keep the soul possession up long enough while out of the room. Riko had broken out of the spell and pulled one of his guns from requip and put a bullet in the guard's head and then more than a few in the seith mage. He opened up to her a few years ago while they did a simple hunting trip for some venison for his cabin. They both had cried. She finally felt like she had her son back after he opened up to her what terrible things had happened to him. She was grateful at the time they never made it to Sky Reach. She just wished he didn't have this personal vendetta against every seith out there. Those three over certainly didn't hold any ill-will toward him. They looked a little scared themselves. Like they were running from something, everyone was running from something. Georgia looked at her son and smoothed his purple low cut mohawk and drew him in for a hug.

Sylvia Sinclair looked out over the airship's deck as Midi faded away to ocean. Her silver locks caught by the wind. She pulled them from her face and her locks behind her ears. She took a big breath a let it out. She got her two granddaughters out of Bosco, but not without its tolls. Lex had been threatened by the Steel Council killed if her other granddaughter didn't do as she was told. Cat was a seith mage. She was 'recruited' by Grendace personally because her piece of shit father, Strauss, made a deal with Grendace. He told him that she was a seith mage and he had possessed her with a shade as well. She would be a perfect killing machine. She would slowly lose her humanity because of the shade. Sylvia shuddered at the sight of that red and black shield on Cat's right shoulder. She knew the horrors she endured her wandering souls told her what she did. To get her granddaughter back, Sylvia put a contract on herself under an alias. When Cat can calling she immediately recognized her own grandmother. Lex was there when Cat showed up. They left Bosco immediately for Sin. Along the way Sylvia and Lex were able to rid cat of the shade that was possessing Cat. It was a fight. They almost lost her, but Cat was a fighter.

"Grammie, stop staring at it. You know staring at it won't make it go away." Cat said sadly to her grandmother. She pulled her wrapped up around her shoulders to hide her tattoo and walked over to her grandmother and hugged her. "It's not your fault, Grammie. You had to protect yourself and me from that law. Plus it didn't help that daddy made a deal with that dick weed."

"Grammie have some tea. It will calm you down. We are almost to Sin. We will be able to start over with Aunt Opal and Uncle Frank." Lex offered.

"This wasn't supposed to have happened to you girls…" Sylvia started.

"Grammie, daddy wasn't supposed to destroy out clan, Seith magic wasn't supposed to be outlawed in Bosco, I wasn't supposed to be a blood hunter. You know things happen for a reason." Cat smiled. "If not for White Seas and the Pradesh's Lex and I wouldn't have survived to adulthood if they hadn't have found us after daddy destroyed the village. Lex is right we are gonna start over in West Nitespring with Aunt Opal and Uncle Frank. I heard that Nick is in a guild there. Maybe they take seith mages and I can be a guild mage again like Lex was."

"Well haven't you mature my little sassy kitty cat." Sylvia said with a smile.

Cat returned with a wink, "Sassy classy and a little smart assy, Grammie." They all three laughed at that.

Two days later the airship landed in West Nitespring. There was the usual hustle and bustle of unloading and loading of the airship for the next stop. People disembarking and embarking the airship families reuniting with those returning and those saying their goodbyes to those leaving. Zosia met the Hatchets at the airship. "Welcome back you too. Ready to go?"

"Sam must have something important if you're here." Georgia deduced.

"What can't a girl come meet an old friend and her son?" teased with a hand on her hip.

"Sure…but not you Zosia. You have a reason for everything. Let's go." They trio teleported to the Red Fox guild.

Sam was there as well as Felix and Walker. They told the mother and son what had happened to Piper and where she was and that she was safe. They also told them that they had found some things that had happened in the drug rings. There was some in-fighting and one guild absorbed all the rings into one. The 12 Crows, they want Piper bad. That's why they did what they did to her place thinking they would scare her into working for her.

"Sam you know what you call a flock of crows don't you?" Georgia asked with a worried tone.

"A murder Georgie. That's why Piper is staying with Oscar. They are half a world away. Oscar says there is a powerful legal guild based in Magnolia as well. So I need your head here in West Nitespring. I don't want you two going off halfcocked. Check in everyday with Walker, got it?"

"Yes sir." They said in unison.

Two weeks later

"Cat come on I wanna go to the beach." Lex pleaded with Cat.

"Lex I think we've been here long enough we should go look into Nick's guild that Aunt Opal and Uncle Frank told us about, The Red Foxes. I wanna see if they are accepting new mages. They said it's about a 20 minute walk from here. Maybe Nick is back from whatever mission he went on." Cat said with hopefulness in her voice. She was grateful not to be a Blood hunter anymore. She hated it. She hated the things that she did and that shade made her do. She wanted to put that all behind her. She hoped that the Steel Council wouldn't send anyone after her or her family. They knew it was a risk.

"Cat you know you don't have to do this. I can work as a guild mage on my own so you don't have to risk being found out…" Lex offered.

"Quit it, Red I'm not letting my sister work and I sit and home on my damn thumbs. I want to help out around the house and maybe even get a place of my own." Cat told her sister as they walked into the courtyard of the glass building. She looked up at the multi-storied glass building, took a deep breath and entered the building.

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Strauss sat in his new office of his new guild. It wasn't a terrible looking office but it wasn't his office he had in his old guild he created, HIS Shadow Stalkers. He loved that guild he created. He made it a lynch pin for all things on the black market. Hell, he was even doing business with Nightmare. That was feather in his cap. His dark merchant guild obtained and traded people animals, items and information. He didn't care what his clients wanted his merchandise for; he just wanted their jewel. Now here he sat in fucking Sin because his right hand man or he should say woman, Astrid Dresdan, betrayed him. She almost killed him but he escaped through his shadows.

Now here he sits with the 12 dark guilds that ran the underbelly of West Nightsprings nefarious trades including the drug rings that made money off the non-magical humans. He never thought about this piece of the market. He made it a bloody takeover of all the guilds to bring them under his heel. Now they are one guild, the 12 Crows. He had mages that he never had at his fingertips before, seith mages. Twenty seith mages under his control. Fuck his daughter, Cat, whom he tried to bring under control with a shade. He had 20 willing seiths. He laughed to himself. He lacked an alchemist. They told him about one talented Piper Hatchet, biochemist, toxicologist, loved snakes. She taught at the university. Drug lords that he had murdered had tried to sway her to join them, but he was different. He didn't take no for an answer. He ordered Bronx to destroy her apartment if she denied his offer. Now she was in Magnolia with her father, he was told. He would wait. He had patience. He waited 22 years for Cat, he'd wait for Piper.

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Astrid Dresdan entered West Nitespring, welcome home she thought to herself. She wasn't sure how long it had been since the last time it had been since she had been home. She knew that the town she grew up in was this sprawling metropolis of glass steel and commerce. Astrid could still feel that he was still here. She would never forget how he felt to her. It felt like home. She kept to the shadows, kept her dark billowy cloak around her, and up over her head to mask most of her face. She couldn't risk being recognized. She made her way to where her old apartment used to be located. She hoped that it was still there looking at all the changes to West Nitespring.

A/N Thanks for sticking with me. For those that read Soul Shatter you will remember some of the characters from it. I have made some changes. Ok, a lot. Cat and Lex are back. I've changed them a bit. Cat is still a seith mage that was possessed by a shade and she is still an ex-Bloodhunter. She hated ever second of it. Sylvia is NOT dead and was able to remove the shade. Straus Dresdan isn't dead nope. Hard to kill an asshole like that. Astrid Dresdan she's getting more of her story fleshed out now that she's back home. Don't worry Shadow Stalkers isn't dead just being reorganized.

I want to thank Desna for helping me out with Flick Piper's little snake. Not sure if I gave you a shout out. Thanks so much for helping me and letting me borrow your wonderful Pradesh Family.

My terrible translations:

Mamá, ¿sientes a esos magos seith allí?: Mom, do you feel those seith mages over there?

Sí y no harás nada : Yes and you will do nothing