Ello! I just wanted to apologize in advance if there are any typos or grammatical errors in this chapter. It's late, I'm too tired to edit and I am currently without an editor. Please bear with me for the moment! Thanks again for reading! ^_^
-Shuichi77
"Well this is an…interesting turn of events."
The blonde had now reverted back to her normal nonchalant and slightly sarcastic tone of voice. Regina on the other hand was none too pleased with her new furry appendages and it showed clearly on her face.
"Let's just…try to figure out where we are at least."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. We should try and find someplace to stay for the night too."
The two women then finished brushing themselves off before they began heading away from the small tree surrounded clearing where they had landed, toward the faint light from street lamps that dotted a concrete path not too far ahead of them. The duo walked in a somewhat awkward silence as they each tried to get their bearings from the area around them. After a few moments, the silence was finally broken when Emma let out a very small giggle upon noticing that Regina now had her new ears pressed firmly back against her head, like a cat ready to pounce.
"What's got you so upset?" The blonde's voice caused Regina's ears to immediately perk up to a stand as she turned her head in a jerk to answer the blonde next to her.
"What are you talking about? I'm fine." Regina's tone was now very cold and tense, betraying her words to the fullest.
"Well it isn't so easy to hide your emotions when you have ears like that. So what are you thinking about?" The queen gave out an aggravated sigh at this.
"I'm just thinking about Rumpelstiltskin…and all the horrible ways I'm going to kill him when I get back. I think I'll start by burning him alive."
Just as the small smirk crossed Regina's lips and the words left her mouth, a small patch of grass just in front of her suddenly burst into flames for no logical reason. The sight caused both women's mouths to hang slightly agape before they turned to each other with baffled expressions.
"Regina…what the hell was that? I didn't even see you conjure that."
"That's because I didn't."
"Ok…this is really starting to get weird."
"For once, I agree with you."
Emma and the queen then continued on their way until they reached a small concrete path that seemed to wind through what appeared to be a park. They followed the path for a short time before Emma finally spotted two vague figures off in the distance.
"Hey look, there is someone up there. Maybe we could ask them where we are." Regina gave a small scoff at this idea.
"Yes Ms. Swan, let's just waltz up to some strangers in the night in a unknown world and just ask for directions. That sounds like a fool proof plan." Emma was none too pleased with the queens' sarcasm.
"Well do you have a better idea?"
This question quickly took the wind from Regina's sails and she begrudgingly motioned for Emma to lead the way down the path. The blonde was admittedly a little satisfied with her tiny victory and she gladly took the lead at a slightly quicker pace. It was only a couple of minutes before Emma could begin to make out the more detailed silhouette of two figures walking along the path just ahead of them. Once she was sure they were within ear shot, she picked up her pace to a jog as she called out to them.
"Hey! Excuse me! We were wondering if you could help us!"
The blonde's plea was more than enough to cause the two figures to stop and turn around to face them just as she and the queen caught up. Emma took a moment to catch her breath as she slyly gave the strangers a once over. The new figures had turned out to be a very tall and thin blonde, dressed in a pair of tight black pants and a blue button up shirt with only two of the middle buttons closed. His companion on the other hand was drastically short in comparison, dressed in a pair of simple blue jeans and a baby blue jacket. It seemed to Emma that that the shorter one was most likely much younger and she assumed him to a brother or some sort of relative. She also noticed, with some relief, that she and Regina were not the only ones in this world with ears and tails; the boy had them too but oddly enough his taller companion did not. Right as she had caught her breath and made her initial observations, the tall man addressed her with a somewhat blank expression.
"Hello. You said you needed help?" Emma then extended a hand to the blonde, who cautiously took it in his hand and gave it a short yet firm shake.
"Yeah, hi. I'm Emma and this is Regina." Regina simply gave a small tip of her head with a very forced smile before the tall man replied.
"I'm Soubi. This is Ritsuka." Emma thought these were slightly strange names but reminded herself that they were in a different land and simply continued on with the conversation.
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise…now, what did you need help with?"
"Oh right. Well to make a long story short, we aren't exactly from around here and we were just wondering if you could tell us where we are?"
"Well this is Shikaro Park."
"Ah I see…well…" Emma was clearly stumbling around for the words to see, so Regina decided to step in with an annoyed tone.
"We aren't from this world. You're going to need to be a little less specific." This caused both Ritsuka and Soubi to stare at the women for a moment with surprised stares while Emma looked at the queen with a more shocked and angry expression. Just as the silence grew incredibly awkward, the short cat eared boy spoke in a voice full of curiosity and confusion.
"From a different world?" Ritsuka then grabbed Soubi by the arm as he looked up at him. "Is that even possible Soubi?" The tall blonde thought very hard for a short moment before replying to his companion.
"I have never run into a situation like this…but I suppose it isn't impossible." Ritsuka then turned to the women with a slightly suspicious expression.
"So then where are you from exactly?" Emma glanced over at the queen, waiting for her to respond but she was quick to discover that she was in no mood for small talk with strangers.
"Well…we are from a town called Storybrooke but before that we lived in the Enchanted Forest." This answer did not seem to sit well with the boy and he gave a slight scowl as he replied.
"The Enchanted Forest…?"
"Yes."
"Give us just a second."
Ritsuka then drug Soubi along the path a ways by the sleeve of his shirt. Once he was sure that they were out of hearing range, Ritsuka stood to face Soubi with a sour expression.
"Soubi let's get out of here. Those women are crazy."
"Now don't be so harsh. We have no reason to believe that they aren't telling the truth."
"Soubi people lie! I mean, the Enchanted Forest? That is an imaginary place from fairy tales. You can't really believe them can you?" Soubi simply gave a warm smile at this as he placed a large hand on the top of Ritsuka's head and ruffled his hair slightly.
"Don't be so negative. They seem harmless." The boy angrily pushed the blonde's hand off of his head before letting out an aggravated sigh.
"Whatever."
Soubi then returned back down the path to join the women once again, with Ritsuka following right behind, very begrudgingly. Once they were standing back in front of the stranded duo, Soubi gave a smile and he addressed them in a pleasant voice.
"Well we are sorry to hear that you have somehow ended up so far from your home." Emma was a little surprised by the sudden change of attitude but was glad to carry on the now somewhat pleasant conversation.
"Thanks."
"Now, do you two have a place to sleep for the night?"
"Uh, no we don't actually. Is there any way you could direct us to an Inn or something?"
"No." Emma was very taken aback by yet another seemingly dramatic shift in attitude from the tall man.
"O-oh…ok then." Soubi then let out a small chuckle at the woman's' very defeated expression.
"You'll stay with us. I have a spare bedroom at the moment. My last room-mate even left his bed and some other furniture." Ritsuka's ears immediately perked up in shock at the blonde's offer and his anger was more than present in his tone.
"Soubi!" Emma looked over, to see that even Regina was surprised at this, before answering the blonde in a dumbfounded tone.
"Oh we couldn't possibly-" Soubi was quick to cut off the sheriffs polite decline.
"It's settled then. We don't live very far at all, just follow us and you can figure things out in the morning." Emma looked over to Regina once more to search for any sign of protest. Upon finding none, she turned back to Soubi with a humbled expression.
"Thank you."
"It's no trouble."
"No really…thank you."
"You're more than welcome. Now, let's get going, it's getting late."
"Yeah…sure."
Soubi then turned around, taking Ritsuka under his arm as he did, and began to walk along the dimly lit path. Emma gave one last slightly dumfounded look to Regina, which was returned only with an aloof glare, before following behind the strange duo. Emma and the queen followed with some distance in an uncomfortable silence until Emma gave Regina a slight jab with her elbow before whispering slyly to her.
"Hey…"
"What?" Regina's tone was more than annoyed but Emma had gotten rather good at ignoring this common sound.
"I just noticed something weird."
"And what is that, sheriff?"
"The kid has cat ears but the tall guy doesn't. I wonder what that means…" The queen remained highly unamused by the blonde's observation.
"I really think that is the least of our problems at the moment."
"Well yeah, but maybe it's important."
"I highly doubt that."
"We'll see…" The woman quickly became caught up in their banter and failed to realize when their guides stopped in front of them, causing Emma to almost crash into the tall blonde, who then turned to her with a smile.
"Here we are." Emma gave a slightly awkward smile as she looked to Soubi's side to see a very sour expression on his young companions face.
"U-uh, great. Thanks again, really."
Soubi gave a soft smile before turning around once more to head up a single flight of stairs, with both women close in toe and Ritsuka in the lead, which led to the modest apartment that he shared with the small boy. Once upstairs, Soubi pulled a small key ring out of his pocket and unlocked the door before pushing it open and stepping inside. Ritsuka followed right on his heels while both Emma and Regina hesitated for a moment in the doorway before finally stepping through. Once everyone was inside, Soubi gently closed the door and flipped on a couple light switches to illuminate the moderately sized apartment. Regina and Emma stood somewhat awkwardly by the door while Ritsuka removed his jacket and laid it across the back of the couch before disappearing down the hallway and into a dark room, and Soubi walked into the kitchen to put a small kettle onto the stove. Soubi then looked over his shoulder at the timid women and gave them a smile before breaking the silence.
"Please, make yourselves at home. I can show you to the spare bedroom if you like." Emma did her best to shake off the tension of the situation and replied in an even tone.
"Um, yeah. That would be great actually." The tall blonde then sauntered out of the kitchen and motioned for his guests to follow. The girls followed with arms crossed in an insecure manner until they all reached the end of a short hallway where Soubi had stopped in front of a closed door. He opened the door before stepping inside and flipping on the light switch. Emma and Regina followed and gave the whole room a quick glance. The room was not very large but not tiny either. There was a large dresser against one wall and a vanity against the other. Emma and Regina then both noticed, much to their discomfort, that the room only had one queen sized bed. Once Soubi noticed that his guest had given the room a once over, he cleared his throat slightly to get their attention.
"I hope this will be alright." Emma then realized that there had once again been an awkward silence and did her best to compensate.
"Oh! Yeah, this will be just fine."
"I'm glad. So, there is an attached private bathroom just through that door and since it doesn't look like you to have brought anything along with you, you are more than welcome to use anything from the dresser and closet. I know that the clothes might not fit, but we would be more than happy to show you to some shops in the morning." After her long silence Regina had finally had enough of the overly terrible situation and she let out a very aggravated sigh.
"Great!" Regina's tone was full of fire and fury and she only spoke the one word before storming off into the bathroom and locking herself inside. The small scene caused Emma to let out a small nervous laugh before speaking to her host with her new ears pressed firmly down against the top of her head.
"Sorry about that…she has a bit of short fuse." Soubi simply chuckled slightly at this.
"It's fine, really. I'm sure this whole situation isn't exactly easy."
"Yeah, that's for sure."
"Well, I hope you two will be able to settle in alright. I'll leave you two alone for a moment to change and just relax. When you're finished, I'd love for you two to come sit with us and have some tea before bed." Emma was still in a bit of shock, not only at their exile, but from the overwhelming kindness of these strangers.
"Um…yeah. That sounds nice actually. We will be out in just a minute."
"Great."
With that, Soubi exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Once they were alone, Emma let out a very long sigh as she sat on the bed and placed her head in hands, feeling at a complete loss as to what they were going to do. After taking a second to collect her thoughts, Emma decided just to make the best of a bad situation and walked over to the dresser to look for something to sleep in. She quickly guessed that whoever had left these clothes must have been a very tall slender man, just by the size of them. After rustling around for a few moments, she finally found two pairs of thin cotton sleep pants and two plain cotton T-shirts, one white and one black. She then closed the drawers and quickly stripped away her red leather jacket, shirt and jeans before slipping into the white set of slightly loose fitting sleep clothes. Once she was dressed, she picked up the darker set of clothes before walking over to the bathroom and knocking on it softly.
"Regina?"
"What?!" Emma winced slightly just at the terrifying tone in the other woman's voice.
"I found some clothes for you to sleep in. It's not a perfect fit and I know it's not your silk pajamas, but you can't sleep in that suit." The blonde listened closely for a moment until she heard another rough sigh. The door then suddenly flew open and she found herself face to face with the very unhappy queen.
"Fine!"
Regina then roughly yanked the clothes from Emma's hands before closing the door just as quickly as she had opened it. Emma then made her way back to the bed and sat back down as she waited patiently for Regina to get changed. It wasn't long at all before the door swung open once more and Regina stepped out with arms crossed, ears pressed flat, her tail flicking back and forth in an annoyed manner and dressed in the baggy black outfit.
"I look ridiculous." Emma had to use all of her will power not to chuckle at the sight.
"You look fine. It's pajamas anyway."
"I just can't believe the mess you've gotten me into this time." This statement caused the blonde's ears to perk up perfectly straight and her tone to become immediately offended.
"Me?! I didn't do anything!"
"Surely you didn't something to get us into this."
"Why do you think that?!"
"I hate to break it you Ms. Swan…but trouble follows you everywhere you go. Ever since the first day you came to Storybrooke, things just fall apart around you." Emma then did her best not to take these words to heart and she took a deep breath before trying to diffuse the situation.
"Look Regina…I'm just as upset about all of this as you are, but we need to keep calm and just figure this thing out. Like it or not, we are in this together and all we have at the moment is each other." Regina then finally uncrossed her arms, realizing that the blonde did have a point, and took on a slightly calmer attitude.
"Fine. Let's just try to figure it out in the morning."
"Ok. Now the tall guy asked if we would want to go have some tea before we go to bed." Regina's immediate thought was to adamantly deny this request but she took a quick second to calm herself before decided that a cup of tea did in fact sound very nice.
"Alright."
Emma then gave a small smile fore standing from the bed and leading the way out of the bedroom, down the hall and into the living room where they found both Soubi and Ritsuka sitting next to each other on the small loveseat, both dressed in pajamas. Soubi immediately noticed their presence and motioned for them to have a seat of the long couch across from himself and his partner.
"Your glasses are there on the coffee table; please have a seat." Both women silently did as they were asked and took their seats on the couch, with some distance between them, before they each took a glass in hand. Emma quickly took a sip before looking up to the tall blonde with a smile.
"Thanks. This is really good."
"You're welcome." Emma then committed to avoid any more awkward silence and quickly sparked up conversation.
"So…Soubi, Ritsuka…are you two like brothers or cousins or something?" Soubi laughed happily at this before answering with a grin.
"No. Ritsuka is my-" Soubi was quickly cut off however by a sharp elbow to the side from his annoyed partner.
"Don't even Soubi." Soubi chuckled at the boy's annoyed tone and slightly blushed cheeks.
"Companion." Emma wasn't entirely sure what to make of this and simply accepted it for the time being.
"Ah, ok." Soubi then took a small sip of his own tea before continuing.
"How about you two? Are you sisters? Partners?" Regina almost choked of her drink at this question and was quick to answer before Emma got the chance.
"No! We are just…" Emma then decided to say the word that Regina seemed to always struggle with.
"Friends." The queen then shot the blonde girl a short glare before speaking once again.
"Yes…we are friends." This time both Soubi and Ritsuka chuckled slightly at the short exchange between their guests. After a very short silence, Emma finally decided to ask one of the many questions that had been burning through her brain since they had arrived in this strange place.
"So…Soubi, I have a question that I'm hoping you can answer for me." The tall blonde was happy to oblige and set down his glass before looking back at Emma coolly over the rims of his small glasses.
"I will answer any questions that I can."
"Great. Well…I've noticed that Ritsuka has…well cat ears. It's not something I've ever seen before and Regina and I didn't have them until we arrived here. I also noticed that you don't have any. So what exactly is the deal there?" Ritsuka's ear perked up at this, being genuinely surprised by the question. The ears and tail have always just been a part of life like any other body part and he honestly couldn't imagine anyone not knowing about it. He was starting to think that maybe the women really weren't from his world. Soubi on the other hand didn't seem as surprised and answered in an even tone and with a serious expression, like explaining the birds and bees to a child.
"Well…in our world everyone is born with ears and a tail."
"Really?" Regina then set her glass down to focus fully on her blonde host, hoping he would explain further.
"Yes. They do go away though. In this world, someone's ears and tail are lost when they lose their virginity." Both Regina and Emma's mouths hung open slightly in surprise, neither one of them expecting that answer.
"O-oh…wow…" Emma then immediately felt Regina's glare burning through her and she timidly glanced next to her to see that Regina was indeed glaring at her with a great deal of intensity. Regina broke away from her gaze only to turn it towards Soubi to speak to him in a sour tone.
"So then why do we have them? We are far from virgins." Ritsuka then glanced up at Soubi with a curious expression.
"That is a good question Soubi. Why is that?" Soubi leaned back on the love seat as he pondered on the question for a moment before speaking.
"Well I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I'd say that since you have never been to this world, when you came here it was the equivalent of being born. Of course you weren't actually born into this world, but maybe you two being something completely new here, somehow short circuited and you gained ears and tails. If I'm correct then I'd imagine you would lose them once you lost your virginities in this world, just like everyone else."
The room then fell silent for a moment as Regina and Emma tried to process this information. Once it had sunken in slightly, Regina turned to face Emma once more before speaking to her a low and calmly furious tone of voice.
"You…you are going to pay for this."
TBC